scanning tunneling microscope
noun
a device that uses a moving needle and the tunnel effect to generate a maplike image of the atomic surface structure of matter, thereby achieving even greater magnification than the scanning electron microscope.
Words nearby scanning tunneling microscope
scanning disk,
scanning electron microscope,
scanning force microscope,
scanning line,
scanning probe microscope,
scanning tunneling microscope,
scansion,
scansorial,
scant,
scantling,
scantlings
Scientific definitions for scanning tunneling microscope
scanning tunneling microscope
A microscope used to make images of individual atoms on the surface of a metal. The microscope has a probe with a small voltage applied to it ending in a tiny sharp tip (ideally consisting of one atom) that is moved close the material's surface. Quantum tunneling of electrons between tip and the metal provides a small current, and that current is held constant by varying the distance between the tip and the material's surface atoms. As the probe is moved across the surface, a three-dimension image of the surface is formed, based on the continual adjustments made to the height of the tip to keep the electron flow constant.