THE USE OF SILVER TIPS IN SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY

Authors
GORBUNOV AA WOLF B EDELMANN J
Citation
Aa. Gorbunov et al., THE USE OF SILVER TIPS IN SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY, Review of scientific instruments, 64(8), 1993, pp. 2393-2394
Citations number
11
Categorie Soggetti
Physics, Applied","Instument & Instrumentation
Journal title
Review of scientific instruments → ACNP
ISSN journal
00346748
Volume
64
Issue
8
Year of publication
1993
Pages
2393 - 2394
Database
ISI
SICI code
0034-6748(1993)64:8<2393:TUOSTI>2.0.ZU;2-6
Abstract
We propose to use silver tips for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Silver is the cheapest noble metal that is practically chemically ina ctive in the air environment. A simple reliable procedure of the tip p reparation and resharpening is presented. The procedure is based on tw o-step electrochemical processing resulting in final tip curvature of less than 200 nm in radius as seen by an electron microscope. The tips show durability for at least a week of daily operation in an air STM.