Instrumentation
We operate ultrahigh vacuum
low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy systems (LTSTM) working at a base
temperature of 5 K. Our microscopes feature a “Besocke-Beetle” type
scanner design in combination with a liquid helium bath cryostat and allow us
- to manipulate single atoms and molecules adsorbed on a surface, and
- to perform local tunneling spectroscopy probing the local density of electronic states as well as elementary excitations induced by inelastic electron tunneling
Technical details of the LTSTM setup:
- Variable STM head temperature from 5 to around 150 K
- Helium consumption one 8 l fill per 3 to 4 days
- In-situ tip exchange
- Noise level < 1 pm along scan direction
- Lateral drift < 2 Å per hour

