Theory, instrumentation, tips, results. Local surface modification. As it can be seen from this paper, STM can be extremely useful in electrochemical studies. It is capable of providing atomic resolution images of samples in water.
Аннотация к работе
Scanning tunneling microscopy: a natural for electrochemistry I. Introduction In a few years since the pioneering work of G. Binnig and H. Rohrer, the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) has evolved into a powerful analytical instrument. STMs operating in vacuum have yielded useful detailed information on conductor and semiconductor surface reconstructions and even molecular and atomic adsorbates. It is clear now that STMs can operate not only in vacuum, but also with the samples covered with electrolytes. Electrolytes, though ionic conductors, are insulators as far as electron flow is concerned. In means, that electron tunneling can also occur in electrolytes. The basic principles of scanning tunneling microscopy are simple. A very sharp tip, mounted on a piezoelectric 3-dimensional XYZ scanner, is positioned close enough to the surface of a sample for an electron tunneling current to flow between the tip and the surface. The tunneling current is the function of the gap between the tip and the surface. The w