Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, Vol.14, No.4, 2403-2406, 1996
Current Characteristics in Near-Field Emission Scanning Tunneling Microscopes
The operation of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in the near held emission regime provides a direct, noninvasive approach for investigating surfaces at nanometer scale. Here, we present a study of the current characteristics in a near field emission STM. The influence of tip’s geometry is analyzed. We show that the electron field emission from the sample is stable against tip-shape changes due to adsorbate diffusion or atomic rearrangements.