Photon emission induced by the scanning tunneling microscope

摘要

Abstract: The tunneling of electrons between the tip of a scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and a sample is accompanied by the emission of photons. This luminescence phenomenon can be used to study local radiative processes at surfaces by combining the high spatial resolution of the STM and optical techniques. In this way, spatial maps of photon intensity modulations can be measured with lateral resolutions of less than 1 nm. Here we review the basic concepts of STM induced light emission and discuss recent results from adsorbed molecules.!54