ASYMMETRIC ATOMIC IMAGES OF STM RESULTING FROM PROBING TIPS

W. Mizutani; H. Tokumoto; H. Bando; M. Shigeno; M. Tanaka; M. Ono; K. Kajimura

doi:doi:10.1051/jphyscol:1987612

34th International Field Emission Symposium / 34ème Symposium International d'Emission de Champ

J. Phys. Colloques 48 (1987) C6-73-C6-78
DOI: 10.1051/jphyscol:1987612

ASYMMETRIC ATOMIC IMAGES OF STM RESULTING FROM PROBING TIPS

W. Mizutani¹, H. Tokumoto¹, H. Bando¹, M. Shigeno², M. Tanaka³, M. Ono¹ et K. Kajimura¹

¹ Electrotechnical Laboratory, Sakuramura, Ibaraki 305, Japan
² Seiko Instruments, Inc., Matsudo, Chiba 271, Japan
³ Nippon Steel Corporation, R&D-I, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki 211, Japan

Abstract
We have constructed a very stable STM operable in air, and concentrate our study on one of the remaining problems of STM - the probing tips. In this paper we present an example of distorted atomic images of graphite and an experimental technique to extract the information of the probing tip from the images. It became clear that the images are affected by the surface structure of the tip. The distortion originated from the sample is also mentioned.