Atomically resolved low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope operating in a 22 T water-cooled magnet

Wang, Jihao; Li, Weixuan; Zheng, Shao-Hui; Zhao, Kesen; Hou, Yubin; Zhang, Jing; Feng, Qiyuan; Xia, Zhigang; Lu, Yalin; Meng, Wenjie; Lu, Qingyou

doi:10.1016/j.ultramic.2022.113668

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…16 We have previously designed and constructed a number of STMs that are used in strong magnetic fields, low-temperature and physiological conditions. [17][18][19][20][21] However, they are not compact and stiff enough. STMs with cryogen-free techniques and high magnetic fields characterised by low vibrations are particularly appealing to the community, it is still relatively difficult to develop the atomic-resolution imaging device in cold head cooling refrigeration type high vibration magnets, and there are significant technical challenges because the requirements for vibration resistance and stiffness of the STM head, as well as absorption of vibrations from the external environment are extremely high.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Atomic resolution imaging using a novel, compact and stiff scanning tunnelling microscope in cryogen‐free superconducting magnet

Esmaeilzadeh,

Touqeer,

Junwei

et al. 2024

Journal of Microscopy

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present the design and performance of a novel scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) operating in a cryogen‐free superconducting magnet. Our home‐built STM head is compact (51.5 mm long and 20 mm in diameter) and has a single arm that provides complete openness in the scanning area between the tip and sample. The STM head consists of two piezoelectric tubes (PTs), a piezoelectric scanning tube (PST) mounted on a well‐polished zirconia shaft, and a large PT housed in a sapphire tube called the motor tube. The main body of the STM head is made of tantalum. In this design, we fixed the sapphire tube to the frame with screws so that the tube's position can be changed quickly. To analyse the stiffness of the STM head unit, we identified the lowest eigenfrequencies with 3 and 4 kHz in the bending modes, 8 kHz in a torsional mode, and 9 kHz in a longitudinal mode by finite element analysis, and also measured the low drift rates in the X–Y plane and in the Z direction. The high performance of the home‐built STM was demonstrated by images of the hexagonal graphite lattice at 300 K and in a sweeping magnetic field from 0 T to 9 T. Our results confirm the high stability, vibration resistance, insensitivity to high magnetic fields and the application potential of our newly developed STM for the investigation of low‐frequency systems with high static support stiffness in physics, chemistry, material and biological sciences.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have previously designed and constructed a number of STMs that are used in strong magnetic fields, low‐temperature and physiological conditions 17–21 . However, they are not compact and stiff enough.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic resolution imaging using a novel, compact and stiff scanning tunnelling microscope in cryogen‐free superconducting magnet

Esmaeilzadeh,

Touqeer,

Junwei

et al. 2024

Journal of Microscopy

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hence, it has great significance and application in the fields of materials science, biological science [ 3 , 4 ], condensed matter physics, and other areas. At present, more and more STMs are being advanced to work in high magnetic fields [ 5 , 6 , 7 ] and low-temperature environments [ 8 , 9 ], which has significant scientific significance for studying the quantum Hall effect [ 10 , 11 ], vortex issues [ 12 ], Ising superconductor [ 13 ], electronic nematicity [ 14 ], and other cutting-edge problems in physics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Atomically Resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscope Capable of Working in Cryogen-Free Superconducting Magnet

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present a novel homebuilt scanning tunneling microscope (STM) with atomic resolution integrated into a cryogen-free superconducting magnet system with a variable temperature insert. The STM head is designed as a nested structure of double piezoelectric tubes (PTs), which are connected coaxially through a sapphire frame whose top has a sample stage. A single shaft made of tantalum, with the STM tip on top, is held firmly by a spring strip inside the internal PT. The external PT drives the shaft to the tip–sample junction based on the SpiderDrive principle, and the internal PT completes the subsequent scanning and imaging work. The STM head is simple, compact, and easy to assemble. The excellent performance of the device was demonstrated by obtaining atomic-resolution images of graphite and low drift rates of 30.2 pm/min and 41.4 pm/min in the X–Y plane and Z direction, respectively, at 300K. In addition, we cooled the sample to 1.6 K and took atomic-resolution images of graphite and NbSe2. Finally, we performed a magnetic field sweep test from 0 T to 9 T at 70 K, obtaining distinct graphite images with atomic resolution under varying magnetic fields. These experiments show our newly developed STM’s high stability, vibration resistance, and immunity to high magnetic fields.

show abstract

A novel STM for quality atomic resolution with piezoelectric motor of high compactness and simplicity

Touqeer,

Esmaeilzadeh,

Meng

et al. 2024

Ultramicroscopy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Atomically resolved low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope operating in a 22 T water-cooled magnet

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

Atomic resolution imaging using a novel, compact and stiff scanning tunnelling microscope in cryogen‐free superconducting magnet

Atomic resolution imaging using a novel, compact and stiff scanning tunnelling microscope in cryogen‐free superconducting magnet

A Novel Atomically Resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscope Capable of Working in Cryogen-Free Superconducting Magnet

A novel STM for quality atomic resolution with piezoelectric motor of high compactness and simplicity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About