Atomic Scale Characterization and Manipulation
Physical Measurement Laboratory, Nanoscale Device Characterization Division
NIST only participates in the February and August reviews.
In support of the development of future electronic systems, research focuses in areas that relate to measurements and physics on the nanometer scale based on scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Topics of interest include (1) energy level spectroscopy of quantum confined structures and two-dimensional electron systems, including graphene, topological insulators, and III-V semiconductors; (2) atom assembly of nanostructures; (3) epitaxial growth of thin films; (4) electron spin measurements; and (5) quantum transport. Research facilities are available that contain state-of-the-art tunneling microscopes developed in our laboratories. Currently we have three low-temperature STM systems. One operates in a superconducting magnet system with a temperature range of 2-4 K and a rotatable vector magnetic field with fields up to 10 T. The second contains an ultrahigh vacuum dilution refrigerator for STM measurements at 10 mK with a field capacity up to 15 T. This latter facility contains molecular beam epitaxy systems for the growth of topological insulators and III-V semiconductors with in-situ transfer of samples and tips into the STM system. A third, variable temperature STM system is included in this facility for examination of processed samples and AFM-type measurements, such as scanning gate microscpy. Work is carried out within the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, where the research results are integrated into development of new measurement methods for nanotechnology.