Atomically resolved probe-type scanning tunnelling microscope for use in harsh vibrational cryogen-free superconducting magnet

Meng, Wenjie; Wang, Jihao; Hou, Yubin; Sui, Mengqiao; Zhou, Haibiao; Wang, Junting; Wu, Gang; Zhang, Jing; Chen, Fangchu; Sun, Yang; Li, Junyun; Lu, Qingyou

doi:10.1016/j.ultramic.2019.06.006

Cited by 18 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The picture and three-dimensional rendering of the STM rod are shown in Figure 2 c,d. Its structure mainly includes a preamplifier box, a KF50 flange, a bellows joint, a center pipe, three radiation shield sheets, a balancing weight, a spacing ring, a terminal, a vibration isolation spring, an encloser, and the STM head, which is similar to the STM probe previously published [ 22 ]. Our homemade STM preamp circuit is built into the preamplifier box, with a feedback resistor of 100 MΩ and a bandwidth of 200 Hz.…”

Section: System Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our group has previously designed and built several STMs for use in strong magnetic fields [ 22 , 23 ] and low-temperature environments [ 24 ], all of which have excellent imaging performance. Their STM head structure is a double slider push structure based on the SpiderDrive [ 25 ] to drive the tip or sample into the tunneling-current-junction area to enable high-precision scanning imaging.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Novel Atomically Resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscope Capable of Working in Cryogen-Free Superconducting Magnet

et al. 2023

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We present a novel homebuilt scanning tunneling microscope (STM) with atomic resolution integrated into a cryogen-free superconducting magnet system with a variable temperature insert. The STM head is designed as a nested structure of double piezoelectric tubes (PTs), which are connected coaxially through a sapphire frame whose top has a sample stage. A single shaft made of tantalum, with the STM tip on top, is held firmly by a spring strip inside the internal PT. The external PT drives the shaft to the tip–sample junction based on the SpiderDrive principle, and the internal PT completes the subsequent scanning and imaging work. The STM head is simple, compact, and easy to assemble. The excellent performance of the device was demonstrated by obtaining atomic-resolution images of graphite and low drift rates of 30.2 pm/min and 41.4 pm/min in the X–Y plane and Z direction, respectively, at 300K. In addition, we cooled the sample to 1.6 K and took atomic-resolution images of graphite and NbSe2. Finally, we performed a magnetic field sweep test from 0 T to 9 T at 70 K, obtaining distinct graphite images with atomic resolution under varying magnetic fields. These experiments show our newly developed STM’s high stability, vibration resistance, and immunity to high magnetic fields.

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Section: System Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Atomically Resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscope Capable of Working in Cryogen-Free Superconducting Magnet

et al. 2023

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“…Scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) 1 has been an essential tool for studying atomic structures of surfaces since its invention. Recently, many STM devices have been developed that operate at low temperatures, [2][3][4] and at high magnetic fields, 5,6 and some even use water-cooled magnets 7 and hybrid magnets 8 which are frequently used in condensed matter physics, chemistry and materials science. Vibrations and acoustic disturbances can affect atomic imaging so using an STM in a hybrid magnet, a water-cooled magnet, or other superconducting magnets remains a big challenge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic resolution imaging using a novel, compact and stiff scanning tunnelling microscope in cryogen‐free superconducting magnet

Esmaeilzadeh,

Touqeer,

Junwei

et al. 2024

Journal of Microscopy

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We present the design and performance of a novel scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) operating in a cryogen‐free superconducting magnet. Our home‐built STM head is compact (51.5 mm long and 20 mm in diameter) and has a single arm that provides complete openness in the scanning area between the tip and sample. The STM head consists of two piezoelectric tubes (PTs), a piezoelectric scanning tube (PST) mounted on a well‐polished zirconia shaft, and a large PT housed in a sapphire tube called the motor tube. The main body of the STM head is made of tantalum. In this design, we fixed the sapphire tube to the frame with screws so that the tube's position can be changed quickly. To analyse the stiffness of the STM head unit, we identified the lowest eigenfrequencies with 3 and 4 kHz in the bending modes, 8 kHz in a torsional mode, and 9 kHz in a longitudinal mode by finite element analysis, and also measured the low drift rates in the X–Y plane and in the Z direction. The high performance of the home‐built STM was demonstrated by images of the hexagonal graphite lattice at 300 K and in a sweeping magnetic field from 0 T to 9 T. Our results confirm the high stability, vibration resistance, insensitivity to high magnetic fields and the application potential of our newly developed STM for the investigation of low‐frequency systems with high static support stiffness in physics, chemistry, material and biological sciences.

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“…Such integration would not only eliminate the dependency on scarce helium, but it would also enable experiments to be carried out uninterrupted without the need for cryogen refills. To this end, several SPM systems that have integrated cryogen-free refrigerators using elaborate mechanical vibration isolations have been reported [7][8][9][10][11][12] and made commercially available [13,14]. However, realizing an instrument with both a base temperature close to 4.2 K, and high-resolution measurement capabilities similar to liquid-helium-based SPM systems has remained elusive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a near-5-Kelvin, cryogen-free, pulse-tube refrigerator-based scanning probe microscope

Kasai,

Koyama,

Yokota

et al. 2022

Preprint

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We report the design and performance of a cryogen-free, pulse-tube refrigerator (PTR)-based scanning probe microscopy (SPM) system capable of operating at the base temperature of near 5 K. We achieve this by combining a home-made interface design between the PTR cold head and the SPM head, with an automatic gas-handling system. The interface design isolates the PTR vibrations by a combination of polytetrafluoroethylene and stainless-steel bellows, and by placing the SPM head on a passive vibration isolation table via two cold stages that are connected to thermal radiation shields using copper heat links.The gas-handling system regulates the helium heat-exchange gas pressures, facilitating both the cool down to and the maintenance of the base temperature. We discuss the effects of each component using measured vibration, current-noise, temperature, and pressure data. We demonstrate that our SPM system performance is comparable to known liquid-helium-based systems with the measurements of the superconducting gap spectrum of Pb, atomic-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy image and quasiparticle interference pattern of Au(111) surface, and non-contact atomic force microscopy image of NaCl(100) surface. Without the need for cryogen refills, the current SPM system enables uninterrupted low-temperature measurements.

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Atomically resolved probe-type scanning tunnelling microscope for use in harsh vibrational cryogen-free superconducting magnet

Cited by 18 publications

References 24 publications

A Novel Atomically Resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscope Capable of Working in Cryogen-Free Superconducting Magnet

A Novel Atomically Resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscope Capable of Working in Cryogen-Free Superconducting Magnet

Atomic resolution imaging using a novel, compact and stiff scanning tunnelling microscope in cryogen‐free superconducting magnet

Development of a near-5-Kelvin, cryogen-free, pulse-tube refrigerator-based scanning probe microscope

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