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:
May. 05, 2009
Filed:
Jul. 21, 2006
Jony Jiang Liu, Olney, MD (US);
Gerald J. Iafrate, Raleigh, NC (US);
Jony Jiang Liu, Olney, MD (US);
Gerald J. Iafrate, Raleigh, NC (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A high-resolution scanning probe microscope using a coherent dual-tip probe comprises two single-atom protrusions on a single crystal metal wire. As the dual-tip probe scans across the surface of a sample material under an electrical bias, an interferenced electron wave function formed by two protruding atoms interacts with electron wave functions of the sample surface. Such an interferenced wave function has a distinctive pattern of electron wave density as high as four times that of a single-atom tip. A more distinctive microscopic image of the sample surface is therefore generated. The resolution of the dual-tip scanning probe microscopic image is also higher than that obtained by a single-tip probe because the interferenced electron wave function provides a confined and densely distributed interactive region.