On the control of scanning tunnelling microscopes

The scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) can be used either for qualitative microscopy or for lithography. Furthermore, this microscope is a high precision instrument sensitive to disturbances originating from sound waves, vibrations and temperature variations. The quality of mechanical design is paramount for the scanning tunnelling microscopy technology. It is however not only the quality of mechanical design which defines the STM's operational reliability, it is also the quality of the STM's control system, as practical experience indicates. In this paper, attention is focused on improving the STM's control system.<>