Scanning tunneling spectroscopy on single naphthalocyanine molecules adsorbed on an ultrathin aluminum oxide film exhibits electron-vibronic coupling that varies with the position of tunneling over the molecule. The spectra at different positions are composed of several series of equally spaced peaks, which are interpreted as progression of progressions of molecular vibrational modes. The spatial variations correlate with the molecular orbital structure, revealing spatially dependent electron-vibronic coupling and selective vibrational excitation.

We observed the transition from negative differential resistance (NDR) to the absence of NDR in the differential conductance (dI/dV) spectra of single copper-phthalocyanine (CuPc) molecules adsorbed on one, two, and three atomic layers of NaBr grown on a NiAl(110) substrate. Through numerical simulation, this transition is attributed to two phenomena in the double-barrier tunnel junction: (i) the opposite bias dependence of the vacuum and NaBr barrier heights, and (ii) the changing barrier widths for CuPc molecules adsorbed on different layers of NaBr.

A scanning tunneling microscope was used to study charging of single copper phthalocyanine molecules adsorbed on an ultrathin Al(2)O(3) film grown on a NiAl(110) surface. A double-barrier tunnel junction is formed by a vacuum barrier between the tip and the molecule and an oxide barrier between the molecule and the NiAl. In this geometry the molecule can be charged by the tunneling electrons. This charging was found to be strongly dependent on the position of the tip above the molecule and the applied bias voltage.

The electron-impact excitation of the individual levels that constitute the 4p 5 5s configuration of Kr is experimentally and theoretically investigated at incident electron energies of 20.0, 15.0, 13.5 and 12.0 eV, for scattering angles ranging from 10 • to 135 • . High resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy is used to obtain spectral intensities for the excitation of each of the four 4p 5 5s levels from the ground state. The intensities lead to three differential cross section ratios. Absolute electron-impact excitation cross sections are then determined by normalization to elastic scattering cross sections using the conventional inelastic to elastic normalization method. The present theoretical cross sections are calculated using two different methods, namely the R-matrix method and the unitarized first-order many-body theory. Comparisons between the experimental and the theoretical results show some good agreement, but reveal areas where significant improvement of the present models is needed. Additionally, it is shown that in the present case, just as in general for the rare gases, differential cross section ratios provide a sensitive test of theoretical models as well as unique insights concerning relativistic effects in the scattering process. Comparisons with existing models and other experimental data are also presented.

We present new experimental measurements and theoretical calculations of R-matrix and unitarized first-order many-body theory for electron-impact excitation of krypton. The usefulness of differential cross section ratios in providing sensitive tests of electron scattering models for the excitation of the configuration of the heavy rare gases is demonstrated. In addition to differential cross sections alone, these ratios provide interesting physical insights into the details of the collision process. Comparisons of the measured ratios with predictions from the present and other available calculations show some agreement, but also reveal that significant improvements of these models are required.