Scanning-Tunneling Spectroscopy of Surface-State Electrons Scattered by a Slightly Disordered Two-Dimensional Dilute “Solid”: Ce on Ag(111)

Low temperature (3.9 K) scanning-tunneling spectroscopy on a hexagonal superlattice of Ce adatoms on Ag(111) reveals site-dependent characteristic features in differential conductance spectra and in spectroscopic images at atomic-scale spatial resolution. Using a tight-binding model, we relate the overall spectral structures to the scattering of Ag(111) surface-state electrons by the Ce adatoms, the site dependence to the disorder induced by imperfections of the superlattice, and the opening of a gap in the local density of states to the observed stabilization of superlattices with adatom distances in the range of 2.3-3.5 nm.