STM-induced surface aggregates on metals and oxidized silicon

Dominik Stöffler; Hilbert V Löhneysen; Regina Hoffmann

doi:10.1039/c1nr10430f

STM-induced surface aggregates on metals and oxidized silicon

Nanoscale. 2011 Aug;3(8):3391-4. doi: 10.1039/c1nr10430f. Epub 2011 Jul 19.

Authors

Dominik Stöffler¹, Hilbert V Löhneysen, Regina Hoffmann

Affiliation

¹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology - Campus South, DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN), Physikalisches Institut, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany. dominik.stoeffler@kit.edu

PMID: 21769375
DOI: 10.1039/c1nr10430f

Abstract

We have observed an aggregation of carbon or carbon derivatives on platinum and natively oxidized silicon surfaces during STM measurements in ultra-high vacuum on solvent-cleaned samples previously structured by e-beam lithography. We imaged the aggregated layer with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The amount of the aggregated material increases with the number of STM scans and with the tunneling voltage. Film thicknesses of up to 10 nm with five successive STM measurements of the same area have been obtained.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't