In scanning tunneling microscopy, we witness in recent years a paradigm shift from “just imaging” to detailed spectroscopic measurements at the nanoscale and multi-tip scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is a technique following this trend. It is capable of performing nanoscale charge transport measurements like a “multimeter at the nanoscale.” Distance-dependent four-point measurements, the acquisition of nanoscale potential maps at current carrying nanostructures and surfaces, as well as the acquisition of I − V curves of nanoelectronic devices are examples of the capabilities of the multi-tip STM technique. In this review, we focus on two aspects: How to perform the multi-tip STM measurements and how to analyze the acquired data in order to gain insight into nanoscale charge transport processes for a variety of samples. We further discuss specifics of the electronics for multi-tip STM and the properties of tips for multi-tip STM, and present methods for a tip approach to nanostructures on insulating substrates. We introduce methods on how to extract the conductivity/resistivity for mixed 2D/3D systems from four-point measurements, how to measure the conductivity of 2D sheets, and how to introduce scanning tunneling potentiometry measurements with a multi-tip setup. For the example of multi-tip measurements at freestanding vapor liquid solid grown nanowires, we discuss contact resistances as well as the influence of the presence of the probing tips on the four point measurements.
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Invited Review Article: Multi-tip scanning tunneling microscopy: Experimental techniques and data analysis
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October 2018
Review Article|
October 15 2018
Invited Review Article: Multi-tip scanning tunneling microscopy: Experimental techniques and data analysis
Bert Voigtländer;
Bert Voigtländer
a)
Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology
, 52425 Jülich, Germany
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: b.voigtlaender@fz-juelich.de
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Vasily Cherepanov
;
Vasily Cherepanov
Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology
, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Stefan Korte;
Stefan Korte
Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology
, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Arthur Leis
;
Arthur Leis
Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology
, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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David Cuma;
David Cuma
Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology
, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Sven Just
;
Sven Just
Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology
, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Felix Lüpke
Felix Lüpke
b)
Peter Grünberg Institut (PGI-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology
, 52425 Jülich, Germany
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: b.voigtlaender@fz-juelich.de
b)
Present address: Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Rev. Sci. Instrum. 89, 101101 (2018)
Article history
Received:
May 31 2018
Accepted:
August 25 2018
Citation
Bert Voigtländer, Vasily Cherepanov, Stefan Korte, Arthur Leis, David Cuma, Sven Just, Felix Lüpke; Invited Review Article: Multi-tip scanning tunneling microscopy: Experimental techniques and data analysis. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1 October 2018; 89 (10): 101101. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5042346
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