Low-temperature vacuum tunneling microscopy
- 1 December 1984
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 45 (11) , 1240-1242
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.95077
Abstract
We report what we believe is the first use of a vacuum tunneling microscope to spatially resolve changes in the electronic structure of a superconducting surface. The exponential dependence of the tunneling resistance on gap spacing is demonstrated at 300, 77, and 15 K. Current-voltage characteristics at low temperature show a structure that can be attributed to the superconducting gap of the Nb3Sn sample studied. We observe reproducible changes in this structure as the tip is laterally scanned between two locations on the surface separated by 220 Å.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Squeezable electron tunneling junctionsApplied Physics Letters, 1983
- Scanning tunneling microscopySurface Science, 1983
- 7 × 7 Reconstruction on Si(111) Resolved in Real SpacePhysical Review Letters, 1983
- Metallic to tunneling transition in Cu-Nb point contactsPhysical Review B, 1983
- Tunneling through a controllable vacuum gapApplied Physics Letters, 1982
- Thermal drive apparatus for direct vacuum tunneling experimentsReview of Scientific Instruments, 1976
- Electron tunneling and superconductivityReviews of Modern Physics, 1974
- The Topografiner: An Instrument for Measuring Surface MicrotopographyReview of Scientific Instruments, 1972
- Observation of Metal-Vacuum-Metal Tunneling, Field Emission, and the Transition RegionPhysical Review Letters, 1971
- Piezoelectric transducer materialsProceedings of the IEEE, 1965