Re:What are “actual pictures” of atoms actually pictures of?
by joncrocks on Sunday June 26, 2016 @06:49AM
(#11980236)
TBH, more people were using AFMs than STMs, because they're cheaper (I think) and the fact that the STM is based on conductivity limits what can be imaged.
Getting pictures of atoms is nice, but sometimes you want to image molecules, especially organic ones (tricky to do in a STM).
For really cool stuff, check out the CO functionalized tip AFM coming out of IBM in Zürich: https://www.zurich.ibm.com/st/atomic_manipulation/pentacene....
The AFM I used was mainly for teaching the concepts, so they wanted simple, cheap, low risk => strong NaOH was out.
The technique back then was, somehow, cutting at about 45° angle and twisting the pliers to make this angle go to zero while cutting/pulling. Then you had to put the tip in the machine and do test images to see whether the tip was good. Usually it wasn't, so you tried again. Finally you got a perfect tip, and maybe got two or three good images before you messed up the tip (from being a noob).