Since its inventio n by Rohrer and Binnig [1, 2, 3], for which they were awarded The microscope was invented by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, who worked at IBM, Europe. By bringing the tip very close to the surface, and by applying an electrical voltage to the tip or sample, we can image the surface at an extremely small scale – down to resolving individual atoms. The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) works by scanning a very sharp metal wire tip over a surface. 7-3 Modification of thin gold films with the scanning tunneling microscope: Thin gold films, which were deposited by sputter deposition onto highly oriented graphite surfaces, were investigated and modified by means of a scanning tunneling microscope. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is a tool that profoundly shaped nanoscience and nano- technology . SNOM is a technique based on the STM. In a SNOM experiment, a fiber tip is scanned in close proximity across a sample, and optical information like SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPY 1 INTRODUCTION Before the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in the early 1980’s, the possibilities to study the atomic structure of surfaces were mainly limited to diffraction techniques using beams of x-rays, electrons, ions and other particles. A small metallic probe, usually made of tungsten or a platinum-iridium alloy, is scanned across a sample surface by piezoelectric transducers (Figure 1). STM: Scanning Tunneling Microscope Basic idea ... Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) ... microscope objective . These transducers provide motion in three 7.1.1 Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) Scanning tunneling microscope (STM) observes atoms immobilized on conducting surfaces. The scanning tunneling microscope is essentially a very sensitive profilometer that uses quantum mechanical tunneling as the sensing method.