CONTROLS AND SOFTWARE FOR TUNNELING SPECTROSCOPY

A versatile software based on common computer hardware has been developed for scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operation. The application of an accelerating signal processor board renders online data acquisition and fast signal and image processing. A newly developed method for tunneling spectroscopy has been implemented. Utilizing block matching algorithms, various types of local spectroscopic characteristics can be measured under consideration of thermal drifts and erratic tip changes. Additional features are: flexible system control, various data processing and display functions, and mapping of atomic surface models onto the measured spectroscopic data. The system is applied to the STM generation of the BEETLE type. A demonstration of performance, flexibility, and features are discussed on actual experiments.