Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, Vol.19, No.4, 1822-1824, 2001
Method for navigating two scanning probes to a common point without additional microscopes
We have developed an efficient method for navigating two scanning tunneling microscope tips into proximity. Using a combined five degrees of freedom coarse positioning system, the two tunneling microscopes are brought to a special reference sample consisting of three mutually nonparallel planes. Successive tunneling on each of these surfaces leads the tips to a common point. This method is simple. inexpensive, and advantageous in restricted conditions such as in ultrahigh vacuum and very low temperature, where the incorporation of an additional guiding system such as an optical telescope or electron microscope is cumbersome.