STM imaging of electrically floating islands

Appearances and disappearances of Gd islands grown on top of a W(1 1 0) substrate were observed in time scales of hours after exposing the surface to a few Langmuirs of hydrogen. The phenomenon is presented and explained in terms of (temporary) creation of electrically floating islands, due to electrical decoupling of the island and substrate by the hydrogen that diffuses into the island/substrate interface. The disappearance of such an island is explained by forming a double barrier junction consisting of two tunneling barriers in series, causing, by charging, the potential of the island to become equal to that of the tip. The island then becomes “invisible” and the tip follows the corrugation of the surface under the substrate. The reappearance follows hydrogen mobility that retains the electrical conductivity of the island–substrate interface.