We report on two new techniques for obtaining fast time resolution in scanning tunneling microscopy. These techniques allow dynamical studies of processes that lie outside the ordinary bandwidth of the STM. The first of these methods uses a magnetostrictive tip to directly gate the tunnel current. The second method uses a nonlinear characteristic of the tunneling interaction to detect optically induced ultrafast signals. In both techniques, demodulation of the high-speed signal is performed at the tunnel junction itself, which should ultimately lead to the greatest possible time resolution. These stroboscopic techniques may be used whenever repetitive signals can be arranged, as is the case for many electronic, magnetic, and optical phenomena at surfaces.

Date Published: 30 March 1995
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 2384, Scanning Probe Microscopies III, (30 March 1995); doi: 10.1117/12.205938

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2384:
Scanning Probe Microscopies III
Mehdi Vaez-Iravani, Editor(s)