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Speeding Up STM Imaging

Posted by kdawson on from the ready-for-my-close-up-mr.-demille dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Probably not many of you have used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), the essential tool of nanoscience. And you might think that it's as easy to take a picture of an atom with an STM as it is to take a shot with your digital camera. In fact, the imaging of individual atoms with an STM is quite slow. Now researchers at Cornell University have shown how to accelerate this process — by adding a radio transmitter, they are able to speed up atomic-level microscopy by a factor of at least 100. A typical STM currently has a sampling rate of about one KHz. This new radio-frequency STM can operate a thousand times faster."

2 of 44 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Building a STM by aussie_a · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    That's a mighty fine resolution you've got on your camera if you can make out the atoms!

  2. Re:DIY possible by lufo · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    In Soviet Russia the microscope tunnels you... or whatever.