Speaker: Joshua Veazey (Grand Valley State University)

Abstract: We have developed a simplified alternative to the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that restricts tip motion to one dimension: the z-axis tunneling microscope (ZTM) [1]. Here, the z-axis lies along the tip-sample separation. While no imaging is possible, students in advanced undergraduate labs can observe the exponential dependence on tunneling current with tip-sample gap and observe qualitative differences in the electronic density of states between metals, semimetals, and semiconductors. I will also discuss continued efforts to integrate control electronics and data acquisition into a fully open-access controller module. The ZTM is simpler and less costly to build than an STM, expanding access to a subset of STM experiments to reach more learners.

[1] R. Lindgren, W. Kozan, N. Fuerst, D. Knapp, and J. P. Veazey, Am. J. Phys. 90, 795 (2022).