Highly reproducible low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy with in situ prepared tips

Castellanos-Gómez, Andrés; Rubio‐Bollinger, Gabino; Garnica, Manuela; Barja, Sara; Parga, Amadeo L. Vázquez de; Miranda, Rodolfo; Agraı̈t, Nicolás

doi:10.1016/j.ultramic.2012.07.021

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The lower number of repeating conductance traces may be attributed to the fact that our tip is not purely Au, but PtIr covered with Au. In the experiments of Andres et al [29] with a graphene surface covered with a small cluster of Au, the number of repeating traces was also limited, in their case to 16. It has been reported that this repetition behavior during mechanical annealing is different for different materials [30] .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This work on mechanical annealing was inspired by earlier break junction and STM experiments, supported by molecular dynamics simulations [25,27–28]. A first application of this approach for a Au STM tip over a graphene surface [29] was made by first locally depositing Au on the graphene surface from the tip using a high electric field pulse, followed by mechanical annealing similar to [25] over that Au deposit. The authors confirmed that the method improved the topographic contrast of the surface and the quality of the spectroscopic data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robust procedure for creating and characterizing the atomic structure of scanning tunneling microscope tips

Tewari

Bastiaans

Allan

et al. 2017

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.

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Scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) are used extensively for studying and manipulating matter at the atomic scale. In spite of the critical role of the STM tip, procedures for controlling the atomic-scale shape of STM tips have not been rigorously justified. Here, we present a method for preparing tips in situ while ensuring the crystalline structure and a reproducibly prepared tip structure up to the second atomic layer. We demonstrate a controlled evolution of such tips starting from undefined tip shapes.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Robust procedure for creating and characterizing the atomic structure of scanning tunneling microscope tips

Tewari

Bastiaans

Allan

et al. 2017

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.

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show abstract

“…For atomically resolved STM experiments, tungsten tips are cleaned and sharpened in situ in UHV using hightemperature annealing [58], electric field restructuring [59][60][61][62][63][64][65], coaxial ion milling [66][67][68][69], and controllable tip crash using voltage pulses or contact between tip and sample [70,71]. Sometimes scanning at high tunneling currents and high bias voltages are applied to sharpen STM tips in tunneling regime.…”

Section: Preparation Of Tips and Samples For High-resolution Stm Expementioning

confidence: 99%

High Resolution STM Imaging

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2015

Surface Science Tools for Nanomaterials Characterization

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“…14 We have, therefore, employed a recently developed technique to prepare highly stable STM tips in situ at cryogenic temperatures. 15 Briefly, this method relies on local electric-field-induced deposition of material from the tip onto the studied surface. Subsequently, repeated indentations are gently performed onto the sputtered cluster to mechanically anneal the tip apex and thus to ensure the stability of the tip.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequently, repeated indentations are gently performed onto the sputtered cluster to mechanically anneal the tip apex and thus to ensure the stability of the tip. 15 After the sample is transferred to the 3 He cryostat, its quality is checked by measuring its STM topography in the constant current STM mode. The presence of monolayer graphene can be easily recognized in the STM images by a characteristic triangular array of bumps with an average separation of around 3 nm.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Periodic spatial variation of the electron-phonon interaction in epitaxial graphene on Ru(0001)

Castellanos-Gómez

Rubio‐Bollinger

Barja

et al. 2013

Applied Physics Letters

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We have performed low temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy measurements on graphene epitaxially grown on Ru(0001). An inelastic feature, related to the excitation of a vibrational breathing mode of the graphene lattice, was found at 360 meV. The change in the differential electrical conductance produced by this inelastic feature, which is associated with the electron-phonon interaction strength, varies spatially from one position to other of the graphene supercell. This inhomogeneity in the electronic properties of graphene on Ru(0001) results from local variations of the carbon-ruthenium interaction due to the lattice mismatch between the graphene and the Ru(0001) lattices. The experimental realization of graphene 1 has boosted the research on this material, finding unique electronic properties.2,3 The prospective use of graphene in optics, electronic devices, 4 and chemical sensors 5 has also motivated a large number of studies devoted to develop different fabrication methods and characterization techniques. Among a variety of growth methods, epitaxial growth of graphene on transition metal substrates has been intensively studied because of its high efficiency and sample quality. [6][7][8] Nevertheless, the role of the substrate in the electronic properties of graphene devices can be very important 9 and it has to be studied in detail. For example, the extraction of photogenerated carriers in graphene photodetectors relies on spatial variations of the potential at the graphene/metal contacts. Often epitaxially grown graphene presents a variety of moir e patterns due to the lattice mismatch with the different transition metal substrates and a spatial modulation of the electronic structure, e.g., the local density of states of the graphene layer has been observed. 10 The electron-phonon coupling (EPC) in graphene, which is responsible of a variety of properties from ballistic transport to excited-state dynamics, depends on the electronic density or doping level through the deformation potential.11 A possible spatial modulation of the electron-phonon interaction, however, has not been studied in these systems.In this letter, we present low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy (IETS) measurements in monolayer graphene epitaxially grown on a Ru(0001) surface, which show a strong inelastic feature that can be attributed to the interaction between the tunnelling electrons and a breathing vibrational mode of the graphene layer. The intensity of this inelastic feature, which is proportional to the electronphonon coupling strength and phonon density of states, varies spatially following the periodic Moir e pattern originated by the graphene/Ru(0001) lattice mismatch.The samples were prepared in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber with a base pressure in the range of 10 À11 Torr. The substrate is a single crystal of Ru exposing the (0001) surface, which was cleaned in UHV by ion sputtering and annealing to 1400 K. The graphene samples are grown under UHV c...

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Highly reproducible low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy with in situ prepared tips

Cited by 12 publications

References 28 publications

Robust procedure for creating and characterizing the atomic structure of scanning tunneling microscope tips

Robust procedure for creating and characterizing the atomic structure of scanning tunneling microscope tips

High Resolution STM Imaging

Periodic spatial variation of the electron-phonon interaction in epitaxial graphene on Ru(0001)

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