Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy - Experimental Methods

Experimental Methods

Acquiring standard STM topographs at many different tip-sample biases and comparing to experimental topographic information is perhaps the most straightforward spectroscopic method. The tip-sample bias can also be changed on a line-by-line basis during a single scan. This method creates two interleaved images at different biases. Since only the states between the Fermi levels of the sample and the tip contribute to, this method is a quick way to determine whether there are any interesting bias-dependent features on the surface. However, only limited information about the electronic structure can be extracted by this method, since the constant topographs depend on the tip and sample DOS’s and the tunneling transmission probability, which depends on the tip-sample spacing, as described in equation (5).

By using modulation techniques, a constant current topograph and the spatially resolved can be acquired simultaneously. A small, high frequency sinusoidal modulation voltage is superimposed on the D.C. tip-sample bias. The A.C. component of the tunneling current is recorded using a lock-in amplifier, and the component in-phase with the tip-sample bias modulation gives directly. In practice, the modulation frequency is chosen slightly higher than the bandwidth of the STM feedback system. This choice prevents the feedback control from compensating for the modulation by changing the tip-sample spacing and minimizes the displacement current 90° out-of-phase with the applied bias modulation. Such effects arise from the capacitance between the tip and the sample, which grows as the modulation frequency increases.

In order to obtain I-V curves simultaneously with a topograph, a sample-and-hold circuit is used in the feedback loop for the z piezo signal. The sample-and-hold circuit freezes the voltage applied to the z piezo, which freezes the tip-sample distance, at the desired location allowing I-V measurements without the feedback system responding. The tip-sample bias is swept between the specified values, and the tunneling current is recorded. After the spectra acquisition, the tip-sample bias is returned to the scanning value, and the scan resumes. Using this method, the local electronic structure of semiconductors in the band gap can be probed.

There are two ways to record I-V curves in the manner described above. In constant-spacing scanning tunneling spectroscopy (CS-STS), the tip stops scanning at the desired location to obtain an I-V curve. The tip-sample spacing is adjusted to reach the desired initial current, which may be different from the initial current setpoint, at a specified tip-sample bias. A sample-and-hold amplifier freezes the z piezo feedback signal, which holds the tip-sample spacing constant by preventing the feedback system from changing the bias applied to the z piezo. The tip-sample bias is swept through the specified values, and the tunneling current is recorded. Either numerical differentiation of I(V) or lock-in detection as described above for modulation techniques can be used to find . If lock-in detection is used, then an A.C. modulation voltage is applied to the D.C. tip-sample bias during the bias sweep and the A.C. component of the current in-phase with the modulation voltage is recorded.

In variable-spacing scanning tunneling spectroscopy (VS-STS), the same steps occur as in CS-STS through turning off the feedback. As the tip-sample bias is swept through the specified values, the tip-sample spacing is decreased continuously as the magnitude of the bias is reduced. Generally, a minimum tip-sample spacing is specified to prevent the tip from crashing into the sample surface at the 0 V tip-sample bias. Lock-in detection and modulation techniques are used to find the conductivity, because the tunneling current is a function also of the varying tip-sample spacing. Numerical differentiation of I(V) with respect to V would include the contributions from the varying tip-sample spacing. Introduced by Mårtensson and Feenstra to allow conductivity measurements over several orders of magnitude, VS-STS is useful for conductivity measurements on systems with large band gaps. Such measurements are necessary to properly define the band edges and examine the gap for states.

Current-imaging-tunneling spectroscopy (CITS) is an STS technique where an I-V curve is recorded at each pixel in the STM topograph. Either variable-spacing or constant-spacing spectroscopy may be used to record the I-V curves. The conductance, can be obtained by numerical differentiation of I with respect to V or acquired using lock-in detection as described above. As a practical concern, the number of pixels in the scan or the scan area may be reduced to prevent piezo creep or thermal drift from moving the feature of study or the scan area during the duration of the scan. Since some CITS scans can last in excess of 12 hours, low drift and creep are absolutely necessary. The problem was fully solved by applying feature-oriented scanning (FOS) methodology.