Title: |
Scanning Tunneling
Microscope (STM) Simulator* |
Meeting: |
116th AAPT National Meeting:
New Orleans, LA |
Location: |
N/A |
Date: |
Monday, January 5 |
Time: |
10:15 a.m. |
Author: |
N. Sanjay Rebello, Kansas
State Univ.
785-532-1633,
srebello@phys.ksu.edu |
Co-Author(s): |
Dean A. Zollman |
Abstract:
|
The Scanning Tunneling
Microscope (STM) enables students to learn how an STM works. It is not
designed to substitute a real STM, but rather to give students an
insight into its physics. The program allows the student to start with a
real STM image of a sample, observe the cross sectional profile of the
sample surface along any direction, and relate it to the measured
tunneling current from the STM's probe tip. While the program does not
give any quantitatively useful results pertaining to the specific sample
that is being observed, it demonstrates how the concepts of potential
energy diagrams, wave functions, and tunneling probability can be
applied to understand the STM. No knowledge of higher level mathematics
is required to use the program, which is targeted at students in high
school or higher. The program was built using Visual C++ 4.0, and runs
on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Both versions of the program
are available at http://www.phys.ksu.edu/perg/vqm/programs. |
|