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Development and Performance of the Nanoworkbench: A Four Tip STM for Electrical Conductivity Measurements Down to Sub-micrometer Scales

Olivier Guise·Hubertus Marbach·Moon-Chul Jung·Jeremy Levy·Joachim Ahner·John T. Yates
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Abstract

A multiple-tip ultra-high vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscope (MT-STM) with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) for imaging and molecular-beam epitaxy growth capabilities has been developed. This instrument (nanoworkbench) is used to perform four-point probe conductivity measurements at micrometer spatial dimension. The system is composed of four chambers, the multiple-tip STM/SEM chamber, a surface analysis and preparation chamber, a molecular-beam epitaxy chamber and a load-lock chamber for fast transfer of samples and probes. The four chambers are interconnected by a unique transfer system based on a sample box with integrated heating and temperature-measuring capabilities. We demonstrate the operation and the performance of the nanoworkbench with STM imaging on graphite and with four-point-probe conductivity measurements on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) crystal. The creation of a local FET, whose dimension and localization are respectively determined by the spacing between the probes and their position on the SOI surface, is demonstrated.

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Olivier Guise, Hubertus Marbach, Moon-Chul Jung, Jeremy Levy, Joachim Ahner, John T. Yates. 2004-11-05. Development and Performance of the Nanoworkbench: A Four Tip STM for Electrical Conductivity Measurements Down to Sub-micrometer Scales. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1878213

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