This site describes my ongoing efforts to home-build a Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM). A
scanning tunneling microscope is a device for imaging
surfaces at very high magnifications - down to the scale
of individual atoms. The STM does this by mechanically
scanning a pointed tip over the surface. Piezo-electric
elements can provide the necessary small translations of
the tip.
If the idea of building a toy that can image individual
atoms does not appeal to you, you will probably not find
this site too exciting.
Update
The DSP software has made more progress. The feedback loop is working,
and the STM can now automatically and reliably establish tunneling current
(without crashing the tip in the process). Unfortunately, there are no
images yet, since that requires additional software on the host PC side to
be written). |