Force-gradient-induced mechanical dissipation of quartz tuning fork force sensors used in atomic force microscopy.

We have studied the dynamics of quartz tuning fork resonators used in atomic force microscopy taking into account the mechanical energy dissipation through the attachment of the tuning fork base. We find that the tuning fork resonator quality factor changes even in the case of a purely elastic sensor-sample interaction. This is due to the effective mechanical imbalance of the tuning fork prongs induced by the sensor-sample force gradient, which in turn has an impact on dissipation through the attachment of the resonator base. This effect may yield a measured dissipation signal that can be different from the one exclusively related to the dissipation between the sensor and the sample. We also find that there is a second-order term in addition to the linear relationship between the sensor-sample force gradient and the resonance frequency shift of the tuning fork that is significant even for force gradients usually present in atomic force microscopy, which are in the range of tens of N/m.

Carbon fibre tips for scanning probe microscopy based on quartz tuning fork force sensors.

We report the fabrication and the characterization of carbon fibre tips for use in combined scanning tunnelling and force microscopy based on piezoelectric quartz tuning fork force sensors. We find that the use of carbon fibre tips results in a minimum impact on the dynamics of quartz tuning fork force sensors, yielding a high quality factor and, consequently, a high force gradient sensitivity. This high force sensitivity, in combination with high electrical conductivity and oxidation resistance of carbon fibre tips, make them very convenient for combined and simultaneous scanning tunnelling microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements. Interestingly, these tips are quite robust against occasionally occurring tip crashes. An electrochemical fabrication procedure to etch the tips is presented that produces a sub-100-nm apex radius in a reproducible way which can yield high resolution images.

Dynamics of quartz tuning fork force sensors used in scanning probe microscopy.

We have performed an experimental characterization of the dynamics of oscillating quartz tuning forks which are being increasingly used in scanning probe microscopy as force sensors. We show that tuning forks can be described as a system of coupled oscillators. Nevertheless, this description requires knowledge of the elastic coupling constant between the prongs of the tuning fork, which has not yet been measured. Therefore, tuning forks have usually been described within the single oscillator or the weakly coupled oscillators approximation that neglects the coupling between the prongs. We propose three different procedures to measure the elastic coupling constant: an opto-mechanical method, a variation of the Cleveland method and a thermal noise based method. We find that the coupling between the quartz tuning fork prongs has a strong influence on the dynamics and the measured motion is in remarkable agreement with a simple model of coupled harmonic oscillators. The precise determination of the elastic coupling between the prongs of a tuning fork allows us to obtain a quantitative relation between the resonance frequency shift and the force gradient acting at the free end of a tuning fork prong.

A low temperature scanning tunneling microscope for electronic and force spectroscopy.

In this article, we describe and test a novel way to extend a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope with the capability to measure forces. The tuning fork that we use for this is optimized to have a high quality factor and frequency resolution. Moreover, as this technique is fully compatible with the use of bulk tips, it is possible to combine the force measurements with the use of superconductive or magnetic tips, advantageous for electronic spectroscopy. It also allows us to calibrate both the amplitude and the spring constant of the tuning fork easily, in situ and with high precision.

Metallic adhesion in atomic-size junctions.

We report high resolution simultaneous measurements of electrical conductance and force gradient between two sharp gold tips as their separation is varied from the tunneling distance to atomic-size contact. The use of atomically sharp tips minimizes van der Waals interaction, making it possible to identify the short-range metallic adhesion contribution to the total force.

Observation of a parity oscillation in the conductance of atomic wires.

Using a scanning tunnel microscope or mechanically controllable break junctions atomic contacts for Au, Pt, and Ir are pulled to form chains of atoms. We have recorded traces of conductance during the pulling process and averaged these for a large number of contacts. An oscillatory evolution of conductance is observed during the formation of the monoatomic chain suggesting a dependence on the numbers of atoms forming the chain being even or odd. This behavior is not only observed for the monovalent metal Au, as was predicted, but is also found for the other chain-forming metals, suggesting it to be a universal feature of atomic wires.

Tunneling spectroscopy in small grains of superconducting MgB(2).

We report on tunneling spectroscopy experiments in small grains of the new binary intermetallic superconductor MgB(2). Experiments have been performed at 2.5 K using a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope. Good fit to the BCS model is obtained, with a gap value of 2 meV. In the framework of this model, this value should correspond to a surface critical temperature of 13.2 K. No evidence of gap anisotropy has been found.