Scanning tunneling microscopy individual atoms

FIGURE B.3 Individual atoms can be seen as bumps on the surface of a solid by the technique called scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). This image is of silicon. 

Development of scanning tunnel microscopy (STM) by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer in 1981 pointed the way to breakthroughs in understanding basic chemical processes. Since then, STM and atomic force microscopy (AFM), as well as optical force microscopy proximal probes,1 have been used to manipulate individual atoms and molecules on surfaces. 

The parallel developments of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) (12) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) (13) greatly broaden our perspectives and abilities to probe the shape and electronic structure of individual supported clusters, as well as enhance our ability to manipulate these entitles on the atomic scale. 

Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) [33, 34] is widely used for investigations of the local atomic structure of surfaces. A probe "tip" is scanned across the surface revealing the positions of individual atoms. With its ability to achieve atomic resolution and, in most cases, distinguish between chemical species, the STM has provided key insights into the nature of alloy formation on surfaces. Both the static and dynamic properties of surface alloys can be probed with the STM. For the system of Pb on Cu, STM measurements were first to show the existence of surface alloy phases unambiguously and identify many of their stmctural properties [20-22, 35]. 

This chapter has been reorganized to place greater emphasis on the physical structure of the atom, as determined from the classic experiments of Thomson, Millikan, and Rutherford. The chapter ends with direct scanning tunneling microscopy images of individual atoms in chemical reactions. Section 1.6 in Principles of Modern Chemistry, fifth edition (mole, density, molecular volume), has been moved to Chapter 2, which now gives a comprehensive treatment of formulas, stoichiometry, and chemical equations. 

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