Interatomic Forces in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Giant Corrugations of the Graphite Surface
Phys. Rev. Lett. 57, 444 – Published 28 July, 1986
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.57.444
Abstract
We show that scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images can be dominated by elastic deformations induced by atomic forces between tip and surface. New STM experiments on graphite (0001) showing a strong variation of the giant corrugation amplitudes with varying current at constant voltage are direct evidence of this atomic-force concept. Corrugations up to 8 ÅA on a lateral scale of 2.4 Å are associated with forces up to N for compression and 2 × N for expansion.