Open AccessEFFECTS OF SINGLE ELECTRON TUNNELING IN STM/STS STUDIES USING Fe TIPS
Author(s) -
Wang Chen
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
wuli xuebao
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 47
ISSN - 1000-3290
DOI - 10.7498/aps.45.1185
Subject(s) - scanning tunneling microscope , superstructure , coulomb , quantum tunnelling , materials science , scanning tunneling spectroscopy , charge density wave , condensed matter physics , coulomb blockade , spin polarized scanning tunneling microscopy , atomic units , scanning electron microscope , electron , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , physics , voltage , quantum mechanics , superconductivity , transistor , composite material , thermodynamics
We have used scanning tunneling microscopy working at 4.2 K to study the transition metal dichalcogenide 1T-TaSe2. The charge density wave (CDW) superstructure (131/2α0×131/2α0) and atomic modulation are well resolved, as well as the associated CDW energy gap. In particular we used high purity iron as tip material and demonstrated clearly the existence of single electron tunnel-ing (so-called Coulomb blocade) effects, further experiments with stainless steel tips also confirmed this observation. It is pointed out that during STM/STS studies tips covered with oxides are very likely to display Coulomb blocade effects due to their small capacitance. Therefore, extra cautious are needed when analyzing spectroscopic features in the area that could be affected by Coulomb blocade effects. At the mean time, high quality scanning images can still be regularly obtained through reso-nant tunneling process.