Scanning tunneling microscopy STM experiments

One of the most promising applications of fullerene molecules is nanoelectronics. Recently, several groups have reported the results of ab initio calculations of current-volt characteristics of the fullerene molecule [94,95]. These investigations were stimulated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments in which the C o molecules were adsorbed on metallic surfaces [96, 97] as well as the break-junction experiments [98] and the demonstration of a prototype of a molecular transistor on the basis of carbon nanotube [99]. 

The objective of this book is to highlight the important strides being made toward a molecular understanding of the processes that occur at surfaces through the unique information provided by the proximal scanning probe family of techniques this principally involves scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) but some atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments are also included. 

Surface science experiments and DFT have often been teammates in very successful projects. DFT has been used along with ultra-high-vacuum surface science experiments such as scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), temperature-programmed desorption, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy... 

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM the same abbreviation is also used for the device, i.e., the microscope) is often compared (and sometimes confused) with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), which was pioneered by Binning and Rohrer in the early 1980s [1]. While both techniques make use of a mobile conductive microprobe, their principles and capabilities are totally different. The most widely used SECM probes are micrometer-sized ampero-metric ultramicroelectrodes (UMEs), which were introduced by Wightman and co-workers 1980 [2]. They are suitable for quantitative electrochemical experiments, and the well-developed theory is available for data analysis. Several groups employed small and mobile electrochemical probes to make measurements within the diffusion layer [3], to examine and modify electrode surfaces [4, 5], However, the SECM technique, as we know it, only became possible after the introduction of the feedback concept [6, 7],... 

The first and best known near-field technique to measure electrical properties in the nanoscale is of course Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM). Since its invention by Binnig et al., STM has been used to explore the mechanisms of lots of phenomena on surfaces [289-294], ranging from experiments concerning the local work function to the use of an STM-tip to induce electropolymerisation [295]. Most of all, STM provides us with atomically resolved images of the surface structure. 

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