We prove that scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of sub-surface Mn atoms in GaAs are formed by hybridization of the impurity state with intrinsic surface states. They cannot be interpreted in terms of bulk-impurity wavefunction imaging. High
atomic resolution images obtained using a low-temperature apparatus are compared with advanced, parameter-free tight-binding simulations accounting for both the buckled (110) surface and vacuum electronic properties.
