The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 10, 1982
Filed:
Sep. 12, 1980
Gerd Binnig, Richterswil, CH;
Heinrich Rohrer, Richterswil, CH;
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The vacuum tunnel effect is utilized to form a scanning tunneling microscope. In an ultra-high vacuum at cryogenic temperature, a fine tip is raster scanned across the surface of a conducting sample at a distance of a few Angstroms. The vertical separation between the tip and sample surface is automatically controlled so as to maintain constant a measured variable which is proportional to the tunnel resistance, such as tunneling current. The position of the tip with respect to the surface is controlled preferably by piezo electric drive means acting in three coordinate directions. The spatial coordinates of the scanning tip are graphically displayed. This is conveniently done by displaying the drive currents or voltages of piezo electric drives.