Vacuum Tunneling: A New Technique for Microscopy

AUG 01, 1986

The scanning tunneling microscope resolves individual atoms on surfaces by probing the surface electron wavefunctions with the tip of an extremely sharp needle, revealing a new world of steps, terraces and atomic arrays.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881071

Calvin F. Quate

I was introduced to vacuum tunneling high over the Atlantic while flying to London in April 1982. For months prior to that flight I had been fretting about the future work of our microscopy research group at Stanford. We had just completed our work in acoustic microscopy and were looking for new directions. I was considering a variety of problems, such as the building of an x‐ray microscope, but nothing would fall into place. I thought that a trip to a conference in London might provide some time to get away and think. On the way to the airport I stopped by my office and picked up the latest issue of this magazine. I think we were over Iceland when I opened it and found a report (PHYSICS TODAY, April 1982, page 21) on a new form of scanning microscopy being developed in Zurich. In London, I changed my travel plans and went to Zurich. It proved to be the start of an adventure for our group, an adventure that still continues, undiminished in excitement.

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More about the authors

Calvin F. Quate, Stanford University.