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Scanning Tunneling Microscope – How Nanoscientists see Atoms

Scanning Tunneling Microscope – How Nanoscientists see Atoms

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This podcast is drawn from the “Virtual Lab” of WeCanFigureThisOut.org. This Virtual Lab uses 3D virtual reality animations to explain electronics, microelectronics and nanotechnology. This podcast explains how scanning tunneling microscopes (STM’s) work. STM’s are one the nanoscientist’s best tools for seeing individual atoms.

Recent Episodes

  • Scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs) allow nanoscientists to see individual atoms.

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  • To see how a Nanosurf easyScan STM works, let's take it apart in virtual reality.

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  • The heart of the STM is an atomically sharp probe.

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  • A voltage induces electrons to jump from the probe's tip to the sample atoms.

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  • A feedback loop holds the electron current constant by keeping the distance from probe to sample constant.

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  • But how can it move the probe over these tiny nanometer distances?

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  • Voltages to a piezoelectric crystal move the probe in and out.

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  • Another crystal moves it side to side.

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  • A third crystal moves it up and down.

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  • Let's see how these work together to create an atomic scale map of the sample surface.

    7 years ago

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