Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 27: Solid-Liquid Interfaces: Reactions and Electrochemistry I
O 27.1: Talk
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 10:30–10:45, H4
Combining electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy with force microscopy — •Andrea Auer1,2 and Franz J. Giessibl2 — 1Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Innsbruck, Austria — 2Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Germany
Atomic force microscopy (AFM), which can be performed simultaneously with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) using metal tips attached to self-sensing quartz cantilevers (qPlus sensors) [1], has advanced the field of surface science by providing unprecedented spatial resolution under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The simultaneous performance of AFM and STM with atomic resolution in an electrochemical cell offers new possibilities for local imaging of electrode structures. Here, we present a combined AFM/STM instrument realized with a qPlus sensor and a custom-built potentiostat for electrochemical applications. Graphite was atomically resolved in both STM and AFM channels in acidic electrolytes [2]. The difference in contrast between AFM and STM images demonstrate the ability to measure conductance at the Fermi level (STM) but also the total charge density (AFM) in an electrochemical environment. This allows us to study important electrode processes that involve a change in charge density, such as adsorption, intercalation, or oxidation processes, and their atomic contrasts in more detail.
[1] F.J. Giessibl, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 90, 011101 (2019). [2] A. Auer, B. Eder and F.J. Giessibl, J. Chem. Phys. 159, 174201 (2023).
Keywords: In-situ atomic force microscopy; In-situ scanning tunneling microsopy; solid-liquid interface; qPlus sensor; electrochemistry