Scanning Tunneling Microscope - How Nanoscientists see Atoms

Scanning Tunneling Microscope - How Nanoscientists see Atoms

By John C. Bean - WeCanFigureThisOut.orgScience Technology

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Scanning Tunneling Microscope - How Nanoscientists see Atoms episodes

July 24, 2017 Scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs) allow nanoscientists to see individual atoms.
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1 min
July 24, 2017 To see how a Nanosurf easyScan STM works, let's take it apart in virtual reality.
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1 min
July 24, 2017 The heart of the STM is an atomically sharp probe.
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1 min
July 24, 2017 A voltage induces electrons to jump from the probe's tip to the sample atoms.
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1 min
July 24, 2017 A feedback loop holds the electron current constant by keeping the distance from probe to sample constant.
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1 min
July 24, 2017 But how can it move the probe over these tiny nanometer distances?
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1 min
July 24, 2017 Voltages to a piezoelectric crystal move the probe in and out.
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1 min
July 24, 2017 Another crystal moves it side to side.
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1 min
July 24, 2017 A third crystal moves it up and down.
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1 min
July 24, 2017 Let's see how these work together to create an atomic scale map of the sample surface.
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1 min