arXiv · 1507.00242
Force-noise spectroscopy by tunnelling current deflection sensing
Abstract
An electro-mechanical setup for the measurement of AC-forces in a low-temperature tunnelling microscope has been developed, which enables extremely high force resolution. The crosstalk of vibrations onto the tunnelling current is used to measure the deflection of a force-sensing cantilever beam. We demonstrate its capability to measure the noise of the force at a tunnelling contact using polycrystalline Iridium. Depending on temperature, spring constant and current, a resolution in the range of $\rm {fN}/\sqrt{\rm Hz}$ is possible. We observe peak levels of the force-noise at the energy of the expected phonon maximal density of states, which suggests that inelastic transport processes contribute to force fluctuations.
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Markus Herz, Elke Scheer. 2015-07-01. Force-noise spectroscopy by tunnelling current deflection sensing. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939721
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