A 3-DOF MEMS motion stage for scanning tunneling microscopy

Published

January 1, 2022

Author(s)

Taekyung Kim, Jason J. Gorman

Abstract

Piezoelectric tube scanners used in most conventional scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) are highly resonant mechanisms that require a low-bandwidth controller (< 1 kHz) to minimize ringing, which prohibitively limits scan speed. In addition, hysteresis and creep can dramatically limit positioning precision. We report on a microelectromechanical (MEMS)-based three degree-of-freedom (3-DOF) nanopositioner that can replace piezoelectric tube scanners for STM. The presented MEMS nanopositioner has fundamental resonance frequencies of 8.4 kHz in the Z-axis, 27.0 kHz in the Y-axis, and 79.0 kHz in the X-axis, and has sufficient motion range along all three axes for STM operation. This device will enable high-speed atomic-scale imaging and patterning and can be used for parallel STM operation, with multiple integrated tips on a single chip, to increase imaging throughput.

Conference Dates

January 9-13, 2022

Conference Location

Tokyo, JP

Conference Title

The 35th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (IEEE MEMS 2022)

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMS51670.2022.9699453

Local Download

Keywords

Scanning tunneling microscopy, electrostatic actuator, 3-DOF nanopositioner, motion stage, integrated tip.

Citation

Kim, T. and Gorman, J. (2022), A 3-DOF MEMS motion stage for scanning tunneling microscopy, The 35th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (IEEE MEMS 2022), Tokyo, JP, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/MEMS51670.2022.9699453 , https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=933782 (Accessed December 26, 2024)