Fermi surface contours obtained from STM images around surface point defects

We present a theoretical analysis of the standing wave patterns in STM images, which occur around surface point defects. We consider arbitrary dispersion relations for the surface states and calculate the conductance for a system containing a small-size tunnel contact and a surface impurity. We find rigorous theoretical relations between the interference patterns in the real-space STM images, their Fourier transforms and the Fermi contours of two-dimensional electrons. We propose a new method for reconstructing Fermi contours of surface electron states, directly from the real-space STM images around isolated surface defects.

Conductance of a STM contact on the surface of a thin film

The conductance of a contact, having a radius smaller than the Fermi wave length, on the surface of a thin metal film is investigated theoretically. It is shown that quantization of the electron energy spectrum in the film leads to a step-like dependence of differential conductance G(V) as a function of applied bias eV. The distance between neighboring steps in eV equals the energy level spacing due to size quantization. We demonstrate that a study of G(V) for both signs of the voltage maps the spectrum of energy levels above and below Fermi surface in scanning tunneling experiments.