Development of laser assisted nanometric resolution scanning tunneling microscopy time-of-flight mass analyzer system Available to Purchase

This study describes a ground-breaking process that provides a direct highly localized measurement of the atomic mass on surfaces at room temperature. Employing an original system that joins a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) device and a time-of-flight (TOF) mass analyzer, we could locally ionize surface atoms by the combination of an optical laser pulse and an appropriate voltage variation between the sample and the STM tip. Desorbed ions were accelerated and detected by a TOF chamber. Detection and discrimination of single atomic species from nanolocalized area have been demonstrated for the first time.