Temperature dependence of a single Kondo impurity

Abstract

Recent advances in scanning tunneling microscopy have allowed the observation of the Kondo effect for individual magnetic atoms. One hallmark of the Kondo effect is a strong temperature-induced broadening of the Kondo resonance. In order to test this prediction for individual impurities, we have investigated the temperature dependent electronic structure of isolated Ti atoms on Ag(100). We find that the Kondo resonance is strongly broadened in the temperature range T = 6.8 K to T = 49.0 K. These results are in good agreement with theoretical predictions for Kondo impurities in the Fermi liquid regime, and confirm the role of electron-electron scattering as the main thermal broadening mechanism.