SURFACE INVESTIGATION BY SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY IN LIQUID-MEDIUM

Scanning tunneling microscopy in liquid environment has gained an incr eased interest in recent years. The specific features of the in situ o bservation of surface structures at the solid/liquid interface are fir st presented. Next, a high resolution imaging of high oriented pyrolyt ic graphite (HOPG) graphite surface shows the potentiality of our home -made microscope. The last study, performed on technological InP subst rates, illustrates the extensive applications of in situ imaging in th e fields of semiconductor technology.