Application of capacitor insertion method to scanning tunneling microscopes Available to Purchase

The capacitor insertion method to compensate for hysteresis and creep in piezoelectric actuators is applied to scanning tunneling microscopes. By inserting a capacitor in series with the piezoelectric actuator, hysteresis and creep can be greatly reduced or eliminated. After the principle of the method is reviewed, a structure of a scanning tunneling microscope used here is described. A calibration grid for scanning electron microscopes (2000 lines/mm) can be imaged with greatly reduced distortion by inserting capacitors in series with the piezoelectric actuators, which consist of an x‐y‐z scanner of the microscope. Furthermore the method can be used to reduce the sensitivity of the x‐y‐z movements of the scanner because an applied voltage is divided between an inserted capacitor and a piezoelectric actuator. Hence, using suitably small capacitors, atomic‐scale images of Kish‐graphite can be easily obtained with the same microscope.