Non-topographic current contrast in scanning field emission microscopy

In scanning field emission microscopy (SFEM), a tip (the source) is approached to few (or a few tens of) nanometres distance from a surface (the collector) and biased to field-emit electrons. In a previous study (Zanin et al. 2016 Proc. R. Soc. A 472 , 20160475. ( doi:10.1098/rspa.2016.0475 )), the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Royal Society open science 2021-07, Vol.8 (7), p.210511-210511
Main Authors: Bertolini, G., Gürlü, O., Pröbsting, R., Westholm, D., Wei, J., Ramsperger, U., Zanin, D. A., Cabrera, H., Pescia, D., Xanthakis, J. P., Schnedler, M., Dunin-Borkowski, R. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
current–voltage characteristics
field emission
Physics and Biophysics
scanning tunnelling microscopy
surface imaging
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Summary:In scanning field emission microscopy (SFEM), a tip (the source) is approached to few (or a few tens of) nanometres distance from a surface (the collector) and biased to field-emit electrons. In a previous study (Zanin et al. 2016 Proc. R. Soc. A 472 , 20160475. ( doi:10.1098/rspa.2016.0475 )), the field-emitted current was found to change by approximately 1% at a monatomic surface step (approx. 200 pm thick). Here we prepare surface domains of adjacent different materials that, in some instances, have a topographic contrast smaller than 15 pm. Nevertheless, we observe a contrast in the field-emitted current as high as 10%. This non-topographic collector material dependence is a yet unexplored degree of freedom calling for a new understanding of the quantum mechanical tunnelling barrier at the source site that takes into account the properties of the material at the collector site.
ISSN:2054-5703
2054-5703
DOI:10.1098/rsos.210511