Ultralarge atomically flat template-stripped Au surfaces for scanning probe microscopy

Step and island dynamics at solid/vacuum and solid/liquid interfaces

Nanometer-scale surface modification using the scanning probe microscope: progress since 1991

We present a reproducible technique for forming holes on a graphite surface with a scanning tunneling microscope. The holes have an average diameter of 40 A (20 A minimum) with an average resolvable spacing of 60 A. Holes are produced by applying a short voltage pulse (3–8 V, 10–100 μs) across the tunneling gap which removes one or more layers of graphite in a small region directly below the tip. Arrays of hundreds of holes have been formed with yields as high as 99.6%. The writing process has a higher success rate in air or in the presence of water vapor. This suggests that the physical mechanism is a chemical process.

Nanometer‐scale hole formation on graphite using a scanning tunneling microscope

Arrhenius parameters for rate processes on solid surfaces

Time-lapse topography has been done with a scanning tunneling microscope on a clean, annealed Au(111) surface showing the effects of surface diffusion of Au atoms at room temperature. Within several minutes, features such as marks made by a gentle touch of the tunnel tip are seen to change as a result of the diffusion of Au atoms over the surface. The diffusion does not depend on the magnitude or sign of the tunneling current and voltage parameters. These experiments demonstrate the unique ability of the scanning tunneling microscope to obtain directly information about surface diffusion on an atomic scale.

L. Elie

Papers

Scanning-tunneling-microscope observation of surface diffusion on an atomic scale: Au on Au(111).