A millikelvin scanning tunneling microscope in ultra-high vacuum with adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration

A modular designed ultra-high-vacuum spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscope with controllable magnetic fields for investigating epitaxial thin films.

A room-temperature ultra-high-vacuum scanning tunneling microscope for in situ scanning freshly grown epitaxial films has been developed. The core unit of the microscope, which consists of critical components including scanner and approach motors, is modular designed. This enables easy adaptation of the same microscope units to new growth systems with different sample-transfer geometries. Furth...

Large magnetocaloric effect and adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration with YbPt2Sn

Adiabatic demagnetization is currently gaining strong interest in searching for alternatives to (3)He-based refrigeration techniques for achieving temperatures below 2 K. The main reasons for that are the recent shortage and high price of the rare helium isotope (3)He. Here we report the discovery of a large magnetocaloric effect in the intermetallic compound YbPt2Sn, which allows adiabatic dem...

Simulating Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Vacuum tunneling of superconducting quasiparticles from atomically sharp scanning tunneling microscope tips

We report on the study of atomically sharp superconducting tips for scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The results clearly show vacuum tunneling of superconducting quasiparticles from atomically sharp tips. Observed deviations of the energy gap of the superconducting tip from its bulk value are attributed to the proximity effect. We show that a combination of a superconducting tip ...

Ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy and theoretical studies of 1-halohexane monolayers on graphite.

A simple model system for the 2D self-assembly of functionalized organic molecules on surfaces was examined in a concerted experimental and theoretical effort. Monolayers of 1-halohexanes were formed through vapor deposition onto graphite surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum. Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy allowed the molecular conformation, orientation, and monolayer crystallographic pa...