AN EXAMINATION OF SURFACE WAVING ON MERCURY FILM ELECTRODES USING SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY

Mercury film electrodes (mfe) have been prepared on several substrates and examined using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Surface wavin g was found to be at least one order of magnitude smaller in amplitude than that observed on bulk mercury drops. A solid/liquid/gaseous inte rface was observed, as was the amplitude of surface waves under variou s imaging conditions. No resonance condition was observed in these sys tems. A simple system for exciting surface waves was developed, and us ed to investigate surface waving of mercury during exposure to various conditions. The source of these waves remains unknown.