Low Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy on Nano-size Superconductors

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of high-temperature superconductors

Tunneling spectroscopy has played a central role in the experimental verification of the microscopic theory of superconductivity in classical superconductors. Initial attempts to apply the same approach to high-temperature superconductors were hampered by various problems related to the complexity of these materials. The use of scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM and STS) on the...

Combined scanning force microscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy of an electronic nano-circuit at very low temperature

Multiquantum vortices in superconductors: Electronic and scanning tunneling microscopy spectra

Superconducting quasiparticle excitation spectra are computed for m times quantized flux lines using a self-consistent Bogoliubov–de Gennes approach. We find m discrete branches of bound-state solutions in the spectrum, corresponding to different values of the quasiparticle angular momentum. Owing to the bound states, the scanning tunneling microscopy spectrum of the vortex is predicted to disp...

Attempts to test an alternative electrodynamic theory of superconductors by low-temperature scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy

We perform an experiment to test between two theories of the electrodynamics of superconductors: the standard London theory and an alternative proposed by J. E. Hirsch [Phys. Rev. B 69, 214515 (2004)]. The two alternatives give different predictions with respect to the screening of an electric field by a superconductor, and we try to detect this effect using atomic force microscopy on a niobium...

Controlled low-temperature molecular manipulation of sexiphenyl molecules on Ag111 using scanning tunneling microscopy.

A novel scanning tunneling microscope manipulation scheme for a controlled molecular transport of weakly adsorbed molecules is demonstrated. Single sexiphenyl molecules adsorbed on a Ag(111) surface at 6 K are shot towards single silver atoms by excitation with the tip. To achieve atomically straight shooting paths, an electron resonator consisting of linear standing-wave fronts is constructed....