Researchers question fundamental study on the Kondo effect

In 1998, spectroscopic studies on the Kondo effect using scanning tunnelling microscopy were published, which are considered ground-breaking and have triggered countless others of a similar kind. Many of these studies may have to be re-examined now that researchers have shown that the Kondo effect cannot be proven beyond doubt by this method. Instead, another phenomenon is creating precisely the spectroscopic 'fingerprint' that was previously attributed to the Kondo effect.