New and versatile ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscope for film growth experiments

With the increasing popularity of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in surface science, many ideas for additional and new technical features have been proposed. The work herein contributes to this evolution with a special STM design. The STM described is part of an experimental apparatus for thin him growth investigations in ultrahigh vacuum. Besides the STM, the apparatus includes facilities for thermal desorption spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy and a Kelvin probe for measuring dynamic work function changes. The Kelvin probe is optimized for gas adsorption experiments as well as for in situ film growth investigations during metal deposition. These added features combined with the STM and easy sample transfer yield a new powerful tool for in situ controlled preparation and extensive characterization of thin films. In the present work we describe the novel features of this STM and we demonstrate the efficiency of the whole system by giving a few representative results. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(98)01907-8]