Chemical fingerprinting at the atomic level with scanning tunneling spectroscopy

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) based on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) makes it possible to map the local electronic density of states for clean surfaces and for those with adsorbates. We have developed a protocol that allows us to obtain the spectral fingerprints of halogen atoms on Si(0 0 1), and we use those fingerprints to distinguish between adatom species for surfaces with Cl and Br mixed adsorbates. The key to the process is the energy distribution of the antibonding states that depend on the halogen species.