Scanning tunneling microscope

Scanning tunneling microscope, also known as scanning tunneling microscope or tunneling scanning microscope, is an instrument that uses the tunneling effect in quantum theory to detect the surface structure of substances. It was invented in 1981 by G. Binning and H. Rohrer at IBM's Zurich laboratory in Zurich, Switzerland, and the two inventors shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernst Ruska.
As a scanning probe microscopy tool, scanning tunneling microscopy allows scientists to observe and locate individual atoms, and it has higher resolution than its counterparts in atomic force microscopy. In addition, scanning tunneling microscopy can precisely manipulate atoms at low temperatures (4K) using probe tips, making it an important measurement and processing tool in nanotechnology.
STM enables humans to observe for the first time the real-time arrangement of individual atoms on the surface of matter and the physicochemical properties related to surface electronic behavior. It has significant significance and broad application prospects in research in surface science, materials science, life science, and other fields, and is recognized by the international scientific community as one of the top ten technological achievements in the world in the 1980s.