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Arrangement and stability of atoms at the apex of a scanning tip
Author(s) -
Nishikawa Osamu,
Tomitori Masahiko,
Katsuki Futoshi
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1988.tb01432.x
Subject(s) - apex (geometry) , microscope , scanning tunneling microscope , materials science , field ion microscope , atom (system on chip) , optics , layer (electronics) , plane (geometry) , ion , chemistry , nanotechnology , physics , geometry , mathematics , organic chemistry , computer science , embedded system
SUMMARY A field ion microscope was used to examine the stability of the atomic arrangement at tip apexes. Although a single W atom at the top layer of a [111]‐orientated tip apex protrudes from the underneath layer by only 0·91 Å, the present study suggests that the (111)‐orientated W tip is the most desirable tip for scanning tunnelling microscopes because a large activation energy for surface diffusion on the (111) plane immobilizes the apex atom while the tip scans over a specimen surface and the tip apex can be resharpened by simply heating the tip.