Scanning tunneling microscopy considerations

Section 6.2.1 offers literature data on the electrodeposition of metals and semiconductors from ionic liquids and briefly introduces basic considerations for electrochemical experiments. Section 6.2.2 describes new results from investigations of process at the electrode/ionic liquids interface. This part includes a short introduction to in situ Scanning Tunneling Microscopy. 

In the traditional lithography approach, researchers continued to consider the idea that modem STM (scanning tunnel Microscopy) could be the proper tool for the formation of two-junction systems when working with very small particles. This consideration had related the studies of single-electron phenomena to the concept of quantum dots (Glazman and Shechter 1989). 

Due to such advantages as high resolution that can approach the real atomic and molecular scale, and the ability to perform real-time measurement that cannot be matched by traditional microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have attracted considerable attention since their introduction from researchers in various fields. The operational procedure of these microscopes is to position an atomically sharp detector needle to less than several nanometers from the surface of a sample, probe the interaction between the detector needle and the sample, scan the sample surface two-dimensionally, and obtain the surface image (an unprecedented method). If the interaction that is probed is the tunneling of the electron that is well known in quantum mechanics, the technique is called STM (T indicates tunneling). If, on the other hand, atomic force (van der Waals force) is used, it is called AFM. 

The Cf-PD method has been largely supplanted by MALDI and ESI MS for the analysis of complex biological molecules because these methods are more efficient and widely applicable. The method has stimulated considerable interest in the field of particle-induced desorption and understanding of the mechanisms of the desorption/ionization process. Scanning tunnelling microscopy has been used to characterize the craters produced by fission... 

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