Atom-resolved imaging with a silicon tip integrated into an on-chip scanning tunneling microscope (in EN)
Limited throughput is a shortcoming of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM), particularly when used for atomically precise lithography. To address this issue, we have developed an on-chip STM based on Microelectromechanical-Systems (MEMS) technology. The device reported here has one degree of freedom, replacing the Z axis in a conventional STM. The small footprint of the on-chip STM provides a great opportunity to increase STM throughput by incorporating a number of on-chip STMs in an array to realize parallel STM. The tip methodology adopted for the on-chip STM presented here, which is a batch-fabricated Si tip, makes our design conducive to this goal. In this work, we investigate the capability of this on-chip STM with an integrated Si tip for STM imaging. We integrate the on-chip STM into a commercial ultrahigh-vacuum STM system and perform imaging with atomic resolution on par with conventional STMs but at higher scan speeds due to the higher sensitivity of the MEMS actuator relative to a piezotube. The results attest that it is possible to achieve a parallel and high-throughput STM platform, which is a fully batch-fabricated MEMS STM nanopositioner capable of performing atomic-resolution STM imaging.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX (United States); Zyvex Labs, LLC, Richardson, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- EE0008322; SC0018527
- OSTI ID:
- 2578451
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Journal Name: Review of Scientific Instruments Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 95; ISSN 0034-6748
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- EN
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A MEMS Nanopositioner With Integrated Tip for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy