Berlin 2012 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 6: Scanning probe methods I

O 6.1: Vortrag

Montag, 26. März 2012, 10:30–10:45, MA 043

Combined ion and electron sputtering for STM tip cleaning — •David Hellmann, Ludwig Worbes, Hanna Fedderwitz, Nils Könne, Konstantin Kloppstech, and Achim Kittel — EHF, Physik, Fak. 5, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg

In STM applications, atomic resolution of a surface reconstruction close to the ground state is considered as an indicator for a clean STM tip and sample surface. Diverse cleaning procedures are suggested in literature for both, tip and samples [1]. In practice not all of them seem to work reliably. Especially removing carbon residues from tips without reducing their sharpness can be challenging. In our experience using a combination of oxygen and electron sputtering yields good and, of equal importance, reproducible results. For this we employ a commercial ion gun and a home made minituarised electron source, respectivily [2]. Here we report about the results of a systematic investigation focused on this combined treatment. Literature: [1] C. J. Chen, Introduction to Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008). [2] D. Hellmann, L. Worbes and A. Kittel, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 82 (2011)