Vibration Isolation for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy measures tunneling current from conducting surfaces. Through analysis, it is possible to make a three dimensional picture accurate on an atomic scale of a surface and probe microscopic phenomenon. The procedure is dependent on the distance between the surface of the microscope tip and the sample surface. High tolerances on a scale less than an angstrom are required and outside vibrations can be fatal to the results of the experiment. A vibration sensor helps determine the location and magnitude, and can also be a tool in evaluating the effectiveness of current vibration reducing equipment. For my project, I constructed a vibration sensor to detect vibrations in the lab. The detector successfully detected vibrations during several test on two STM systems.