Compact, high‐stability, ‘‘thimble‐size’’ scanning tunneling microscope

摘要: A new high‐stability scanning tunneling microscope (STM) has been developed. Its key design feature is the application of two, concentrically aligned, piezoelectric ceramic tubes, allowing x–y–z motion tungsten tip as well sample mounting to be cast into a single compact unit. The construction small, very rigid, and temperature compensated, yielding reduced sensitivity mechanical acoustic vibrations variations. Other advantages this ‘‘thimble‐size’’ STM include easy and, at later stage, operation under UHV conditions with access other surface‐analysis (UHV) tools. At present, operated in air, its performance tested by imaging highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface Si(111) on which 100‐A‐thick Au layer deposited.