Search results for "scanning tunneling microscope"

Tunneling induced decomposition of Mo(CO)(6) onto TiO2(110) surface

2012

International audience; Tunneling induced decomposition of Mo(CO)(6) from the gas phase was studied on TiO2(110) surface by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS). The efficiency of the procedure was followed by measuring the dot volume as a proportional indicator of the amount of the decomposed precursor. It was found that below 1 x 10(-5) Pa background pressure of Mo(CO)(6), there is no measurable effect and above 1 x 10(-4) Pa, the nanodot size is too large compared to the curvature of the tip (20-40 nm). A threshold bias of +3.1(+/- 0.1) V on the sample was measured for the decomposition of Mo(CO)(6) in gas ambient. In the absence of the precursor, dot formation was …

First images obtained in the near infrared spectrum with the photon scanning tunneling microscope

1993

Abstract First images obtained in the near infrared spectrum with a photon scanning tunneling microscope are presented. The intensity of the light collected by the fibertip, at λ = 1.3 λm , which is a function of the separation between the tip and the sample surface is in agreement with that predicted by the theory. Images of quartz and silicon oxide are presented and the latter is compared with that obtained by an atomic force microscope.

Theory of Near‐field Optical Imaging with a Single Molecule as Light Source

2002

Scanning near-field optical microscopes (SNOM) illuminate a sample in the very near-field using a nanometer sized tip. Ideally, the light source should be point-like and many efforts have been made to optimize tip efficiency (see, for example, the article of Heimel et al in this issue). Very recently, Sandoghdar et al have realized a molecular probe tip in which a terrylene molecule inserted in a paraterphenyl microcrystal is attached at the extremity of the probe tip [1]. The excited molecule behaves as a point-like light source which is raster scanned over an aluminium patterned structure. We propose here an analysis of this experiment based on the field-susceptibility formalism (also cal…

2015

AbstractWhile understanding the properties of materials under stress is fundamentally important, designing experiments to probe the effects of large tensile stress is difficult. Here tensile stress is created in thin films of potassium (up to 4 atomic layers) by epitaxial growth on a rigid support, graphite. We find that this “simple” metal shows a long-range, periodic “herringbone” reconstruction, observed in 2- and 3- (but not 1- and 4-) layer films by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Such a pattern has never been observed in a simple metal. Density functional theory (DFT)simulations indicate that the reconstruction consists of self-aligned stripes of enhanced atom den…

Reproducible optical fiber tips for photon scanning tunneling microscopy with very small (>5°) cone angle

1998

Sharp optical fiber tips for photon scanning tunneling microscopes (PSTMs) have been fabricated by employing a new alternative technique for etching multimode optical fibers. The tip diameter is less than 30 mm, while the cone full-angle can be as sharp as 3/spl deg/. To the knowledge of the authors, such tips are the sharpest reported up to now. Measurements, with 19 tips, of the evanescent wave decay distance produced by frustrated reflection of light on a same sample, show good reproducibility. Furthermore, the PSTM images, taken with the new tips, are very sharp and fit with images of the same sample obtained with an atomic force microscope (AFM).

Isolated Mn-12 single-molecule magnets grafted on gold surfaces via electrostatic interactions

2005

Electrostatic interactions drive the adsorption of polycationic single-molecule magnets onto anionic monolayers self-assembled on gold surfaces. Well-isolated magnetic clusters have been deposited and characterized using scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy.

Tailoring the transmittance of integrated optical waveguides with short metallic nanoparticle chains

2004

We study the ability of noble metal nanoparticle chains supporting localized surface plasmons to tailor the transmittance of channel waveguides on which they are deposited. The optical interaction between a microwaveguide ~MWG! and various arrangements of nanoparticles is first analyzed by means numerical calculations based on the Green’s tensor formalism. For specific geometries of the particle chains, the transmission spectra of the composite device ~MWG and nanoparticles! exhibits strong modulations in the optical range with the appearance of a neat band gap. The results of an experiment inspired by this theoretical study are also discussed. The photon scanning tunneling microscope image…

Submicrometer in-plane integrated surface plasmon cavities.

2007

International audience; The optical properties of in-plane integrated surface plasmon polariton (SPP) cavities comprised of a thin film area sandwiched between two one-dimensional Bragg SPP mirrors are investigated numerically and experimentally. We discuss the resonance condition of these cavities, and we analyze in details the physical origin of the dispersion of this resonance. On the basis of numerical results, we show that in-plane SPP cavities can be used to achieve local SPP field enhancement and antireflecting SPP layers. The numerical results are compared to near-field optical images recorded by operating a photon scanning tunneling microscope. From the near-field images recorded o…

Squeezing the Optical Near-Field Zone by Plasmon Coupling of Metallic Nanoparticles

1999

We report on the experimental observation of near-field optical effects close to Au nanoparticles using a photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM). Constant height operation of the PSTM allowed an unprecedented direct comparison with theoretical computations of the distribution of the optical near-field intensity. An unexpected squeezing of the optical near field due to plasmon coupling was observed above a chain of Au nanoparticles.

Imaging standing surface plasmons by photon tunneling

2005

We present a direct method for optically exciting and imaging delocalized standing surface plasmons in thin metal films. We show theoretically that when imaging the field of the plasmons with a photon scanning tunneling microscope, the presence of the dielectric probe has a negligible effect on the surface modes of the metal film. We demonstrate that plasmon interference can be sustained in arbitrarily large regions of the metal film in comparison to the excitation wavelength. This knowledge can be important when seeking the relative distance between two scattering centers such as the presence of micron or submicron structures.