Abstract
We present a multitip scanning tunneling microscope (STM) where four independent STM units are integrated on a diameter of 50 mm. The coarse positioning of the tips is done under the control of an optical microscope or an SEM in vacuum. The heart of this STM is a new type of piezoelectric coarse approach called Koala Drive which can have a diameter greater than 2.5 mm and a length smaller than 10 mm. Alternating movements of springs move a central tube which holds the STM tip or AFM sensor. This new operating principle provides a smooth travel sequence and avoids shaking which is intrinsically present for nanopositioners based on inertial motion with saw tooth driving signals. Inserting the Koala Drive in a piezo tube for xyz-scanning integrates a complete STM inside a 4 mm outer diameter piezo tube of <10 mm length. The use of the Koala Drive makes the scanning probe microscopy design ultra-compact and accordingly leads to a high mechanical stability. The drive is UHV, low temperature, and magnetic field compatible. The compactness of the Koala Drive allows building a four-tip STM as small as a single-tip STM with a drift of <0.2 nm/min and lowest resonance frequencies of 2.5 (xy) and 5.5 kHz (z). We present examples of the performance of the multitip STM designed using the Koala Drive.
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We would like to acknowledge Ch. Stampfer for the preparation of the graphene sample.
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Cherepanov, V. et al. (2012). Ultra-Compact Multitip Scanning Probe Microscope with an Outer Diameter of 50 mm. In: Joachim, C. (eds) Atomic Scale Interconnection Machines. Advances in Atom and Single Molecule Machines. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28172-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28172-3_2
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