Construction and applications of a tunneling microscope (STM)

O objetivo deste trabalho foi a construção de um microscópio de tunelarnento (STM) e sua aplicação a alguns tipos de materiais. Todas suas partes constituintes - cabeça de medida, sistema de isolamento contra vibrações, circuito eletrônico de retroalirnentação e programa computacional de controle - foram desenvolvidas c montadas em nosso laboratório. O aparelho foi testado e calibrado por medidas de interferência óptica e através de imagens da estrutura cristalina de grafite obtidas com o próprio instrumento. Foi realizado um estudo sobre filmes finos de ouro, otirnizando-se o processo de deposição por sputtering, para sua utilização corno cobertura de amostras isolantes a serem investigadas por microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM) ou de tunelarnento. Um método de preparo de amostras sernicondutoras foi proposto e utilizado no estudo inicial de pontos quânticos de InAs crescidos pela técnica de epitaxia por feixe molecular (MBE).The aim of this work was the construction of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and its application to some interesting physical systems. All its parts- measurement head, antivibration system, electronic feedback circuit and control software were developed and mounted in our laboratory. The instrument was tested and calibrated by optical interferometry and using images of the atomic structure of graphite obtained with the microscope itself. A systematic study of thin sputtered Au films was carried out in order to optimize the sputtering process for its use in the coverage of insulating samples to be investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and STM. We also proposed a new method to prepare semiconducting surfaces for STM measurements in air, which was used to study InAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)

Construction and applications of a tunneling microscope (STM)

O objetivo deste trabalho foi a construção de um microscópio de tunelarnento (STM) e sua aplicação a alguns tipos de materiais. Todas suas partes constituintes - cabeça de medida, sistema de isolamento contra vibrações, circuito eletrônico de retroalirnentação e programa computacional de controle - foram desenvolvidas c montadas em nosso laboratório. O aparelho foi testado e calibrado por medidas de interferência óptica e através de imagens da estrutura cristalina de grafite obtidas com o próprio instrumento. Foi realizado um estudo sobre filmes finos de ouro, otirnizando-se o processo de deposição por sputtering, para sua utilização corno cobertura de amostras isolantes a serem investigadas por microscopia eletrônica de varredura (SEM) ou de tunelarnento. Um método de preparo de amostras sernicondutoras foi proposto e utilizado no estudo inicial de pontos quânticos de InAs crescidos pela técnica de epitaxia por feixe molecular (MBE).The aim of this work was the construction of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and its application to some interesting physical systems. All its parts- measurement head, antivibration system, electronic feedback circuit and control software were developed and mounted in our laboratory. The instrument was tested and calibrated by optical interferometry and using images of the atomic structure of graphite obtained with the microscope itself. A systematic study of thin sputtered Au films was carried out in order to optimize the sputtering process for its use in the coverage of insulating samples to be investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and STM. We also proposed a new method to prepare semiconducting surfaces for STM measurements in air, which was used to study InAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)

Enhanced electrochemical activity using vertically aligned carbon nanotube electrodes grown on carbon fiber

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes were successfully grown on flexible carbon fibers by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The diameter of the CNT is controllable by adjusting the thickness of the catalyst Ni layer deposited on the fiber. Vertically aligned nanotubes were grown in a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Deposition system (PECVD) at a temperature of 630 ºC, d.c. bias of -600 V and 160 and 68 sccm flow of ammonia and acetylene, respectively. Using cyclic voltammetry measurements, an increase of the surface area of our electrodes, up to 50 times higher, was observed in our samples with CNT. The combination of VACNTs with flexible carbon fibers can have a significant impact on applications ranging from sensors to electrodes for fuel cells

Room temperature observation of the correlation between atomic and electronic structure of graphene on Cu(110).

In this work we have used atomically-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to study the interplay between the atomic and electronic structure of graphene formed on copper via chemical vapor deposition. Scanning tunneling microscopy directly revealed the epitaxial match between a single layer of graphene and the underlying copper substrate in different crystallographic orientations. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy we have directly measured the electronic density of states of graphene layers near the Fermi level, observing the appearance of a series of peaks in specific cases. These features were analyzed in terms of substrate-induced perturbations in the structural and electronic properties of graphene by means of atomistic models supported by density functional theory calculations