Scanning tunneling potentiometry implemented into a multi-tip setup by software

Abstract

We present a multi-tip scanning tunneling potentiometry technique that can be implemented into existing multi-tip scanning tunneling microscopes without hardware changes. The resulting setup allows flexible in situ contacting of samples under UHV conditions and subsequent measurement of the sample topography and local electric potential with resolution down to Å and μV, respectively. The performance of the potentiometry feedback is demonstrated by thermovoltage measurements on the Ag/Si$(111)-(\sqrt{3}\times \sqrt{3})R30^{\circ }$ surface by resolving a standing wave pattern. Subsequently, the ability to map the local transport field as a result of a lateral current through the sample surface is shown on Ag/Si$(111)-(\sqrt{3}\times \sqrt{3})R30^{\circ }$ and Si$(111)-(7\times 7)$ surfaces.

References in corpus (2)

• Surface and Step Conductivities on Si(111) Surfaces
• Design and Performance of a Practical Variable-Temperature Scanning Tunneling Potentiometry System

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Electrical resistance of individual defects at a topological insulator surface
• Surface Conductivity of Si(100) and Ge(100) Surfaces Determined from Four-Point Transport Measurements Using an Analytical N-Layer Conductance Model
• Four-point probe measurements using current probes with voltage feedback to measure electric potentials
• Parasitic conduction channels in topological insulator thin films
• Strong and Weak Three-Dimensional Topological Insulators Probed by Surface Science Methods
• Surface structures of tellurium on Si(111)-(7x7) studied by low-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy
• Intermediate diffusive-ballistic electron conduction around mesoscopic defects in graphene
• Distributed Current Injection into a One-Dimensional Ballistic Edge Channel
• Electric Currents at Semiconductor Surfaces from the Perspective of Drift-Diffusion Equations
• Imaging the transition from diffusive to Landauer resistivity dipoles