Design and Construction of a Scanning Tunneling Microscope

My research includes the design and construction of a Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM). The purpose of this microscope is to study the surface structure of materials. The design phase will include making drawings to allow the specialized parts to be machined and acquiring the other materials needed to assemble the mechanical components of the STM. Other components include RHK Technologies STM-100 electronics, an IBM compatible PC and a data acquisition card. An electronic switch box, the piezoelectric tubes, a Faraday cage, and a vibration isolation apparatus will be designed and constructed as a part of this project. The RHK STM electronics will provide the necessary voltages that are applied to the piezoelectric tubes and monitor the tip sample tunneling current. The piezoelectric tubes are used in the positioning of the tip. The RHK electronics are interfaced to an IBM-compatible PC with the use of a data acquisition card. The computer is used to generate different signals, acquire the tunneling currents, and analyze the results. In addition to this STM, I will incorporate the necessary modifications to the RHK STM-100 electronics to adapt to another type of STM that was previously used in Ultra High Vacuum.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physics

Grantor

Southwest Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

1998

Author dc:creator

• Wittry, N. Eric

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Galloway, Heather C.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Michalk, Victor E.
• Crawford, James R.

• microscopes
• scanning tunneling microscopy
• surfaces

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/23556

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/23556