A new method to perform in situ current voltage curves with an electrochemical scanning tunnelling microscope

A new method to perform in situ current voltage curves with an electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope under bipotentiostatic control is presented. The method eliminates the effect of (a) high parasitic capacitances that are present when tip and sample are immersed in a liquid and (b) electrochemical currents due to the effect of a polarization out of the usual tip versus electrolyte voltage window. Several applications to the study of silicon surfaces in HF solutions are shown.