Attractive interaction between Mn atoms on the GaAs(110) surface observed by scanning tunneling microscopy

Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) was carried out to investigate the structures of Mn atoms deposited on a GaAs(110) surface at room temperature to directly observe the characteristics of interactions between Mn atoms in GaAs. Mn atoms were paired with a probability higher than the random distribution, indicating an attractive interaction between them. In fact, re-pairing of unpaired Mn atoms was observed during STS measurement. The pair initially had a new structure, which was transformed during STS measurement into one of those formed by atom manipulation at 4 K. Mn atoms in pairs and trimers were aligned in the <110> direction, which is theoretically predicted to produce a high Curie temperature.