Regensburg 2007 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 8: Methods: Scanning Probe Techniques I

O 8.4: Talk

Monday, March 26, 2007, 12:00–12:15, H41

A challenge in STM-technology: video-rate imaging during film growth — •Vincent Fokkema, Mark den Heijer, Arjen C. Geluk, and Marcel J. Rost — Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, P.O.Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

We developed a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that will be, for the first time, capable of monitoring film growth during the deposition of films with significant thicknesses. To capture the dynamics involved in film growth, both high spatial and temporal resolution are required. The wish to image a growing surface during physical vapor deposition (PVD) or during ion bombardment demands an open structure of the microscope, which contradicts the desired stability for high speed imaging. Bearing this in mind, we optimized the rigidity of the scanner to not be hampered by mechanical resonances, which would render the system incontrollable. To this end we modeled the complete STM with finite elements analysis (FEA), of which the results were compared with actual measurements. Finally we received new insights regarding the design rules for the ultimate STM.