Current, tunneling

Vb is the bias voltage applied between the tip and the surface, C is a constant that depends on the nature of the sample material and d is the nearest distance between the tip and the sample surface. For generating a tunneling current, only a small bias voltage (typically between 1 mV and 4 V) is necessary when the gap is on the scale of interatomic distance. In an STM, the tunneling current (It) is between 10 pA and 10 nA. The tunneling current varies exponentially 

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STM Scanning tunneling microscopy [9, 19, 31] Tunneling current from probe scans a conducting surface Surface structure... 

At a surface, not only can the atomic structure differ from the bulk, but electronic energy levels are present that do not exist in the bulk band structure. These are referred to as surface states . If the states are occupied, they can easily be measured with photoelectron spectroscopy (described in section A 1.7.5.1 and section Bl.25.2). If the states are unoccupied, a teclmique such as inverse photoemission or x-ray absorption is required [22, 23]. Also, note that STM has been used to measure surface states by monitoring the tunnelling current as a fiinction of the bias voltage [24] (see section BT20). This is sometimes called scamiing tuimelling spectroscopy (STS). 

The teclmique of scaiming electrochemical microscopy (SECM) [62] uses the same apparatus as in electrochemical STM, but instead of measuring tunnelling currents, the reaction O + ue —> R (where O and R... 

MI] Tredgold R H and Winter C S 1981 Tunneling currents in Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers of stearic acid J. Phys. D Appl Phys. 14 LI 85-8... 

The constant height mode of operation results in a faster measurement. In this analysis, the tip height is maintained at a constant level above the surface and differences in tunneling current ate measured as the tip is scaimed across the surface. This approach is not as sensitive to surface irregularities as the constant current mode, but it does work well for relatively smooth surfaces. 

Chemical and biological sensors (qv) are important appHcations of LB films. In field-effect devices, the tunneling current is a function of the dielectric constant of the organic film (85—90). For example, NO2, an electron acceptor, has been detected by a phthalocyanine (or a porphyrin) LB film. The mechanism of the reaction is a partial oxidation that introduces charge carriers into the film, thus changing its band gap and as a result, its dc-conductivity. Field-effect devices are very sensitive, but not selective. 

Because STM measures a quantum-mechanical tunneling current, the tip must be within a few A of a conducting surface. Therefore any surface oxide or other contaminant will complicate operation under ambient conditions. Nevertheless, a great deal of work has been done in air, liquid, or at low temperatures on inert surfaces. Studies of adsorbed molecules on these surfaces (for example, liquid crystals on highly oriented, pyrolytic graphite ) have shown that STM is capable of even atomic resolution on organic materials. 

Electrons can penetrate the potential barrier between a sample and a probe tip, producing an electron tunneling current that varies exponentially with the distance. 

The STM uses this eflFect to obtain a measurement of the surface by raster scanning over the sample in a manner similar to AFM while measuring the tunneling current. The probe tip is typically a few tenths of a nanometer from the sample. Individual atoms and atomic-scale surface structure can be measured in a field size that is usually less than 1 pm x 1 pm, but field sizes of 10 pm x 10 pm can also be imaged. STM can provide better resolution than AFM. Conductive samples are required, but insulators can be analyzed if coated with a conductive layer. No other sample preparation is required. 

Fig. 3. Derivatives of the tunnelling current of individual SWCNTs obtained by the STS measurement. Different features are clearly seen in the spectra of nos. 1-4 and nos. 5-7 [25].

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