LOW-TEMPERATURE SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE FOR BALLISTIC-ELECTRON-EMISSION MICROSCOPY AND SPECTROSCOPY

Design details and initial results are presented for a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope specifically intended for measurements of ballistic-carrier transmittance through heterostructures. The basic design is of the Besocke type, modified for ballistic electron emission microscopy and spectroscopy (BEEM). This instrument is the first to acquire BEEM spectra below 77 K. Salient features are (1) operation in a liquid-helium storage Dewar to below 6 K, (2) a lateral positioning range of 5 mm at low temperature, and (3) lateral drift rate less than 0.2 nm/h at the lowest temperatures. For BEEM spectroscopy, the microscope's high positional stability allows extended signal-averaging at a single location on the sample. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.