Scanning tunneling microscope

A scanning probe instrument that maps conductive surfaces by measuring quantum tunneling current between a sharp tip and the surface. Its atomic-scale images reflect both surface topography and local electronic structure.

Quantum tunneling: A quantum phenomenon in which particles pass through energy barriers that classical physics forbids them to cross. Electrons tunnel across the narrow gap between the tip and the surface.
Scanning probe microscopy: A family of microscopy methods that form images by scanning a probe across a surface and measuring local interactions. The scanning tunneling microscope is a member of this broader instrument family.
Gerd Binnig: A German physicist who co-invented the scanning tunneling microscope and shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics. Binnig developed the instrument with Heinrich Rohrer at IBM Zurich.
Atomic manipulation: The controlled repositioning of individual atoms or molecules using a nanoscale probe. A scanning tunneling microscope tip can move atoms across a surface.
Atomic force microscopy: A scanning probe microscopy technique that maps surfaces by measuring forces between a sharp tip and the sample. Unlike tunneling microscopy, it can image insulating samples.
Tunneling current: Electric current carried by particles tunneling through a potential barrier. Its strong dependence on tip–surface separation makes tiny height differences detectable.
Work function: The minimum energy required to remove an electron from a solid's surface into vacuum. It influences how readily electrons tunnel across the tip–surface gap.
Heinrich Rohrer: A Swiss physicist who co-invented the scanning tunneling microscope and shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics. Rohrer's collaboration with Binnig established the microscope's experimental foundations.
Quantum corral: A ring of surface atoms arranged to confine surface-state electrons and create a standing-wave pattern. The instrument both assembled and imaged this demonstration of electron confinement.
Scanning electron microscope: An electron microscope that scans a focused electron beam across a specimen to form an image. It uses emitted electrons rather than a tunneling junction to map surfaces.

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