A phantom force induced by the tunneling current, characterized on Si(111)

Abstract

Simultaneous measurements of tunneling currents and atomic forces on surfaces and adsorbates provide new insights into the electronic and structural properties of matter on the atomic scale. We report on experimental observations and calculations of a strong impact the tunneling current can have on the measured force, which arises when the resistivity of the sample cannot be neglected. We present a study on Si(111)-7\times7 with various doping levels, but this effect is expected to occur on other low-conductance samples like adsorbed molecules, and is likely to strongly affect Kelvin probe measurements on the atomic scale.

4 pages, 4 figures, submitted

Cited by in corpus (7)

• A comparsion of force sensors for atomic force microscopy based on quartz tuning forks and length extensional resonators
• Atomic White-Out: Enabling Atomic Circuitry Through Mechanically Induced Bonding of Single Hydrogen Atoms to a Silicon Surface
• Combined AFM and STM measurements of a silicene sheet grown on Ag(111) surface
• A Multi-scale Approach for Simulations of Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy with Atomic Resolution
• Electrostatic Landscape of a H-Silicon Surface Probed by a Moveable Quantum Dot
• Charged-state dynamics in Kelvin probe force microscopy
• Force-noise spectroscopy by tunnelling current deflection sensing