The measurement of the tip current noise as a method to characterize the exposed area of coated ESTM tips

Author

Abadal, Gabriel ; Pérez-Murano, Francesc ; Barniol, Nuria ; Aymerich, X.

Author_Institution

Departament d´´Enginyeria Electronica, Univ. Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain

Volume

52

Issue

3

fYear

2003

fDate

6/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

859

Lastpage

864

Abstract

A new method to characterize the uncoated area of electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ESTM) tips based on the measurement of the rms tip current noise is presented. A clear relationship between this noise and the exposed area measured by means of different standard techniques is shown. A simple model based on the tip-electrolyte system allows adjustment of the relationship. The new technique is advantageous with respect to the standard methods because it is nondestructive and because it can be applied in situ during an ESTM experiment, allowing continuous monitoring of the tip coating state.

Keywords

electric noise measurement; electrochemical devices; scanning tunnelling microscopy; ESTM coated tip; electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy; exposed area; nondestructive method; tip current noise measurement; tip-electrolyte system; Area measurement; Coatings; Current measurement; Insulation; Measurement standards; Monitoring; Noise measurement; Scanning electron microscopy; Semiconductor device noise; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIM.2003.814683

Filename

1213673