{"id":{"repo_id":"queens","oai_identifier":"oai:queensu.scholaris.ca:1974/1972"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/queens/oai:queensu.scholaris.ca:1974/1972","repository":{"repo_id":"queens","name":"Queens University","base_url":"https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"A Vertical Coarse Approach Scanning Tunneling Microscope","abstract":"A Pan-style scanning tunneling microscope (STM), with a vertical coarse approach mechanism, was designed, built and tested. The microscope will be operated in ultra-high vacuum and also at cryogenic temperatures (8 K) inside a continuous flow cryostat. Fundamental differences in operating principle exist between the new microscope and the beetle-type inertial sliders [1] that have been the mainstay of the group for the last eight years. While Pan-style microscopes do already exist [2], they remain challenging to build, and an active area of research [3]. This system represents a bold departure from well-trodden paths, and will greatly expand the range of experiments that our group can perform. The operating principles of inertial piezoelectric motors are detailed. Design guidelines for a piezoelectric motor are given, and used in the design of the vertical coarse approach motor. A simple, inexpensive implementation for creating waveforms with an extremely fast fall time is discussed. Motor performance is tested, and a minimum step size of 20nm is found for frequencies ranging from 0 Hz to 3 kHz. The motor operates with high dynamic range: individual 20nm steps can be taken, as well as being able to move at a velocity of 0.4mm s−1. Little is known about the vibrational properties of Pan-style microscopes. Vibrational testing of the microscope revealed the expected scanner bending mode at 1.6 kHz (above the scanner bending mode of our beetles at 1.2 kHz), and a complicated response signal above this frequency. Custom extension springs for an eddy-current damping system are built and tested. A low resonant frequency of 1.8 Hz is found, which is ideal for the application. Initial testing of the STM in ambient conditions is performed on two different surfaces. A moir´e supermesh [4] with periodicity 3nm is observed on a highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface, and agrees well with previously published results. Using a flame-annealed Gold on mica surface, a low drift rate of 0.6nm s−1 is observed over a period of 13 minutes. Single-height atomic steps are observed on both surfaces. Additionally, the microscope is shown to be capable of zooming into different features on a surface, and scanning at different length scales.","abstract_html":"A Pan-style scanning tunneling microscope (STM), with a vertical coarse approach mechanism, was designed, built and tested. The microscope will be operated in ultra-high vacuum and also at cryogenic temperatures (8 K) inside a continuous flow cryostat. Fundamental differences in operating principle exist between the new microscope and the beetle-type inertial sliders [1] that have been the mainstay of the group for the last eight years. While Pan-style microscopes do already exist [2], they remain challenging to build, and an active area of research [3]. This system represents a bold departure from well-trodden paths, and will greatly expand the range of experiments that our group can perform. The operating principles of inertial piezoelectric motors are detailed. Design guidelines for a piezoelectric motor are given, and used in the design of the vertical coarse approach motor. A simple, inexpensive implementation for creating waveforms with an extremely fast fall time is discussed. Motor performance is tested, and a minimum step size of 20nm is found for frequencies ranging from 0 Hz to 3 kHz. The motor operates with high dynamic range: individual 20nm steps can be taken, as well as being able to move at a velocity of 0.4mm s−1. Little is known about the vibrational properties of Pan-style microscopes. Vibrational testing of the microscope revealed the expected scanner bending mode at 1.6 kHz (above the scanner bending mode of our beetles at 1.2 kHz), and a complicated response signal above this frequency. Custom extension springs for an eddy-current damping system are built and tested. A low resonant frequency of 1.8 Hz is found, which is ideal for the application. Initial testing of the STM in ambient conditions is performed on two different surfaces. A moir´e supermesh [4] with periodicity 3nm is observed on a highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface, and agrees well with previously published results. Using a flame-annealed Gold on mica surface, a low drift rate of 0.6nm s−1 is observed over a period of 13 minutes. Single-height atomic steps are observed on both surfaces. Additionally, the microscope is shown to be capable of zooming into different features on a surface, and scanning at different length scales.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Drevniok, Benedict"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["McLean, Alastair B."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-06-25T15:24:27Z","date_published":"2009-06-25T15:24:27Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T20:35:39Z","subjects":["Physics","Condensed Matter","Scanning Probe Microscopy","Scanning tunneling microscopy"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1974/1972","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.supervisor","label":"Supervisor","values":["McLean, Alastair B."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Drevniok, Benedict"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2009-06-24 13:06:16.683"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2009-06-25T15:24:27Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2009-06-25T15:24:27Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-06-25T15:24:27Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Physics","Condensed Matter","Scanning Probe Microscopy","Scanning tunneling microscopy"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1974/1972"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2009-06-24 13:06:16.683"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["A Pan-style scanning tunneling microscope (STM), with a vertical coarse approach mechanism, was designed, built and tested. The microscope will be operated in ultra-high vacuum and also at cryogenic temperatures (8 K) inside a continuous flow cryostat. Fundamental differences in operating principle exist between the new microscope and the beetle-type inertial sliders [1] that have been the mainstay of the group for the last eight years. While Pan-style microscopes do already exist [2], they remain challenging to build, and an active area of research [3]. This system represents a bold departure from well-trodden paths, and will greatly expand the range of experiments that our group can perform. The operating principles of inertial piezoelectric motors are detailed. Design guidelines for a piezoelectric motor are given, and used in the design of the vertical coarse approach motor. A simple, inexpensive implementation for creating waveforms with an extremely fast fall time is discussed. Motor performance is tested, and a minimum step size of 20nm is found for frequencies ranging from 0 Hz to 3 kHz. The motor operates with high dynamic range: individual 20nm steps can be taken, as well as being able to move at a velocity of 0.4mm s−1. Little is known about the vibrational properties of Pan-style microscopes. Vibrational testing of the microscope revealed the expected scanner bending mode at 1.6 kHz (above the scanner bending mode of our beetles at 1.2 kHz), and a complicated response signal above this frequency. Custom extension springs for an eddy-current damping system are built and tested. A low resonant frequency of 1.8 Hz is found, which is ideal for the application. Initial testing of the STM in ambient conditions is performed on two different surfaces. A moir´e supermesh [4] with periodicity 3nm is observed on a highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface, and agrees well with previously published results. Using a flame-annealed Gold on mica surface, a low drift rate of 0.6nm s−1 is observed over a period of 13 minutes. Single-height atomic steps are observed on both surfaces. Additionally, the microscope is shown to be capable of zooming into different features on a surface, and scanning at different length scales."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["M.Sc."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Vertical Coarse Approach Scanning Tunneling Microscope"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.department":["Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy"],"dc:contributor.supervisor":["McLean, Alastair B."],"dc:creator":["Drevniok, Benedict"],"dc:date":["2009-06-24 13:06:16.683"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2009-06-25T15:24:27Z"],"dc:date.available":["2009-06-25T15:24:27Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-06-25T15:24:27Z"],"dc:description":["Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2009-06-24 13:06:16.683"],"dc:description.abstract":["A Pan-style scanning tunneling microscope (STM), with a vertical coarse approach mechanism, was designed, built and tested. The microscope will be operated in ultra-high vacuum and also at cryogenic temperatures (8 K) inside a continuous flow cryostat. Fundamental differences in operating principle exist between the new microscope and the beetle-type inertial sliders [1] that have been the mainstay of the group for the last eight years. While Pan-style microscopes do already exist [2], they remain challenging to build, and an active area of research [3]. This system represents a bold departure from well-trodden paths, and will greatly expand the range of experiments that our group can perform. The operating principles of inertial piezoelectric motors are detailed. Design guidelines for a piezoelectric motor are given, and used in the design of the vertical coarse approach motor. A simple, inexpensive implementation for creating waveforms with an extremely fast fall time is discussed. Motor performance is tested, and a minimum step size of 20nm is found for frequencies ranging from 0 Hz to 3 kHz. The motor operates with high dynamic range: individual 20nm steps can be taken, as well as being able to move at a velocity of 0.4mm s−1. Little is known about the vibrational properties of Pan-style microscopes. Vibrational testing of the microscope revealed the expected scanner bending mode at 1.6 kHz (above the scanner bending mode of our beetles at 1.2 kHz), and a complicated response signal above this frequency. Custom extension springs for an eddy-current damping system are built and tested. A low resonant frequency of 1.8 Hz is found, which is ideal for the application. Initial testing of the STM in ambient conditions is performed on two different surfaces. A moir´e supermesh [4] with periodicity 3nm is observed on a highly-oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface, and agrees well with previously published results. Using a flame-annealed Gold on mica surface, a low drift rate of 0.6nm s−1 is observed over a period of 13 minutes. Single-height atomic steps are observed on both surfaces. Additionally, the microscope is shown to be capable of zooming into different features on a surface, and scanning at different length scales."],"dc:description.degree":["M.Sc."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1974/1972"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:subject":["Physics","Condensed Matter","Scanning Probe Microscopy","Scanning tunneling microscopy"],"dc:title":["A Vertical Coarse Approach Scanning Tunneling Microscope"],"dc:type":["thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T20:35:39Z"}