Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

نویسنده

Zachary Barnett

چکیده

As science ventures deeper into the realm of the microscopic, probing, measuring, and even constructing at increasingly smaller scales, it must seek out a means of observing that is suitable to the desired scale and resolution. In the late 17th century, the journey into this realm began with the development of the optical microscope and the resulting observation of single cells and bacteria.[1]. However, the observation of single atoms requires far more resolution than visible light can provide, because the average wavelength of visible light is about 2,000 times greater than the diameter of a typical atom.[1] In answer to this problem, the electron microscope was developed. Utilizing the wave-like properties of the electron, an electron microscope can use electrons with wavelengths comparable to the diameter of an atom to resolve individual bulk atoms and study them in greater detail. A study of surface features at the atomic level requires a more sensitive probe still, due to the fact that high-energy electrons will penetrate into the bulk without providing surface information, and low-energy electrons are often scattered by the sample. The development of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer in 1982[2] provided the necessary next step in imaging techniques and created a new kind of device that can be used as a tool for both observation and alteration.

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

An overview of scanning near-field optical microscopy in characterization of nano-materials

Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy (SNOM) is a member of scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) family which enables nanostructure investigation of the surfaces on a wide range of materials. In fact, SNOM combines the SPM technology to the optical microscopy and in this way provide a powerful tool to study nano-structures with very high spatial resolution. In this paper, a qualified overview of ...

متن کامل

An overview of scanning near-field optical microscopy in characterization of nano-materials

متن کامل

Infrared spectroscopy of molecular submonolayers on surfaces by infrared scanning tunneling microscopy: tetramantane on Au111.

We have developed a new scanning-tunneling-microscopy-based spectroscopy technique to characterize infrared (IR) absorption of submonolayers of molecules on conducting crystals. The technique employs a scanning tunneling microscope as a precise detector to measure the expansion of a molecule-decorated crystal that is irradiated by IR light from a tunable laser source. Using this technique, we o...

متن کامل