Science. 1993 Mar 19;259(5102):1724-6. doi: 10.1126/science.259.5102.1724.
Grooves a few nanometers wide can be formed on a Si(111) surface with a scanning tunneling microscope when the tip is above a critical voltage. This may provide a promising approach to nanodevice fabrication. The dependence of the critical voltage on tunneling current, tip polarity, and tip material was studied with silver, gold, platinum, and tungsten tips. The results are consistent with field emission of positive and negative silicon ions. The variation of critical voltage with current is explained quantitatively by a simple tunneling equation that includes the effect of the contact potential between tip and sample.
当针尖处于临界电压之上时，用扫描隧道显微镜可以在 Si(111)表面上形成几纳米宽的凹槽。这可能为纳米器件的制造提供一种很有前途的方法。利用银、金、铂和钨针尖研究了临界电压对隧道电流、针尖极性和针尖材料的依赖关系。结果与正、负离子的场致发射一致。通过一个简单的隧道方程定量解释了临界电压随电流的变化，该方程包括了针尖和样品之间接触电势的影响。
