Control circuit for a scanning tunneling microscope

We have successfully built and tested a circuit designed to control a piezoelectric tube scanner having the standard single inner-electrode quartered outer-electrode configuration, using digital-to-analog ( D/A ) converters commercially available. To avoid noise associated with the PC, the signals t...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Review of scientific instruments 1998-09, Vol.69 (9), p.3259-3267
Hauptverfasser: Munoz, Raúl C., Villagra, Paolo, Kremer, Germán, Moraga, Luis, Vidal, Guillermo
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
container_end_page 3267
container_issue 9
container_start_page 3259
container_title Review of scientific instruments
container_volume 69
creator Munoz, Raúl C.
Villagra, Paolo
Kremer, Germán
Moraga, Luis
Vidal, Guillermo
description We have successfully built and tested a circuit designed to control a piezoelectric tube scanner having the standard single inner-electrode quartered outer-electrode configuration, using digital-to-analog ( D/A ) converters commercially available. To avoid noise associated with the PC, the signals transmitted by the D/A channels to the control electronics are received by instrumentation amplifiers INA 105 at the control circuit, providing 86 dB common mode rejection, thereby over four orders of magnitude of immunity to common mode noise. To prevent ground loops in the communication between the control electronics and the analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, a novel approach was used. The signals sent by the control electronics to the A/D converters were transmitted via isolation amplifiers ISO 122 followed by a 10 kHz Sallen–Key low pass filter incorporated at each output of the control circuit, providing galvanic isolation between the control electronics and the PC, thereby eliminating ground loops. The control circuit was designed to allow analog as well as digital feedback, selectable via a toggle switch. The design also incorporates the possibility of using two independent external signals to modulate the polarization of the sample and two independent external signals to modulate the piezoelectric transducer drive along the Z direction. It also incorporates the possibility of electronically canceling the slope that might occur while scanning due to the sample being tilted along the X axis (fast scan direction) and/or along the Y axis (slow scan direction). The circuit was tested using two 12 bit A/D–D/A converters DAS 1602 to control the scanner of a scanning tunneling microscope, with a home-built scanning head, electrometer, and preamplifier. With the complete system in operation but in the absence of tunneling current, the electrometer exhibits a current noise under 3 pA rms and a response time of 30 μs to a step input current, a performance that compares well with that of bulkier and more expensive commercial low noise current amplifiers. To calibrate the instrument and verify proper control operation, we obtained images of a commercial holographic grating covered with gold running the instrument in the digital feedback mode, using the algorithm described by Piner and Reifenberger [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 60, 3123 (1989)]. The control circuit and the electrometer turn out to be about one order of magnitude less expensive than commercially available contr
doi_str_mv 10.1063/1.1149021
format Article
fullrecord <record><control><sourceid>scitation_cross</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_scitation_primary_10_1063_1_1149021</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><sourcerecordid>rsi</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c297t-c6605c11bd9ac12ceaf67fd55c680b73c2dc8d36880c984ca20a53cca981fb5a3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNqdj0FLxDAUhIMoWFcP_oNeFbrmJU2aHqXoKix40XNIXxuJdJOSZAX_vVt2wbtzmTl8zDCE3AJdA5X8AdYAdUsZnJECqGqrRjJ-TgpKeV3JplaX5CqlL3qQACgI74LPMUwluoh7l0sbYmnKhMZ75z_LvPd-nJa0cxhDwjCP1-TCmimNNydfkY_np_fupdq-bV67x22FrG1yhVJSgQD90BoEhqOxsrGDECgV7RuObEA1cKkUxVbVaBg1giOaVoHtheErcnfsXYZTHK2eo9uZ-KOB6uWtBn16e2Dvj2xCl012wf8P_g7xD9TzYPkv2n1jQw</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Aggregation Database</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype></control><display><type>article</type><title>Control circuit for a scanning tunneling microscope</title><source>AIP Digital Archive</source><creator>Munoz, Raúl C. ; Villagra, Paolo ; Kremer, Germán ; Moraga, Luis ; Vidal, Guillermo</creator><creatorcontrib>Munoz, Raúl C. ; Villagra, Paolo ; Kremer, Germán ; Moraga, Luis ; Vidal, Guillermo</creatorcontrib><description>We have successfully built and tested a circuit designed to control a piezoelectric tube scanner having the standard single inner-electrode quartered outer-electrode configuration, using digital-to-analog ( D/A ) converters commercially available. To avoid noise associated with the PC, the signals transmitted by the D/A channels to the control electronics are received by instrumentation amplifiers INA 105 at the control circuit, providing 86 dB common mode rejection, thereby over four orders of magnitude of immunity to common mode noise. To prevent ground loops in the communication between the control electronics and the analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, a novel approach was used. The signals sent by the control electronics to the A/D converters were transmitted via isolation amplifiers ISO 122 followed by a 10 kHz Sallen–Key low pass filter incorporated at each output of the control circuit, providing galvanic isolation between the control electronics and the PC, thereby eliminating ground loops. The control circuit was designed to allow analog as well as digital feedback, selectable via a toggle switch. The design also incorporates the possibility of using two independent external signals to modulate the polarization of the sample and two independent external signals to modulate the piezoelectric transducer drive along the Z direction. It also incorporates the possibility of electronically canceling the slope that might occur while scanning due to the sample being tilted along the X axis (fast scan direction) and/or along the Y axis (slow scan direction). The circuit was tested using two 12 bit A/D–D/A converters DAS 1602 to control the scanner of a scanning tunneling microscope, with a home-built scanning head, electrometer, and preamplifier. With the complete system in operation but in the absence of tunneling current, the electrometer exhibits a current noise under 3 pA rms and a response time of 30 μs to a step input current, a performance that compares well with that of bulkier and more expensive commercial low noise current amplifiers. To calibrate the instrument and verify proper control operation, we obtained images of a commercial holographic grating covered with gold running the instrument in the digital feedback mode, using the algorithm described by Piner and Reifenberger [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 60, 3123 (1989)]. The control circuit and the electrometer turn out to be about one order of magnitude less expensive than commercially available control circuits and low noise current amplifiers of similar performance.</description><identifier>ISSN: 0034-6748</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1089-7623</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1063/1.1149021</identifier><identifier>CODEN: RSINAK</identifier><language>eng</language><ispartof>Review of scientific instruments, 1998-09, Vol.69 (9), p.3259-3267</ispartof><rights>American Institute of Physics</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c297t-c6605c11bd9ac12ceaf67fd55c680b73c2dc8d36880c984ca20a53cca981fb5a3</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c297t-c6605c11bd9ac12ceaf67fd55c680b73c2dc8d36880c984ca20a53cca981fb5a3</cites></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://pubs.aip.org/rsi/article-lookup/doi/10.1063/1.1149021$$EHTML$$P50$$Gscitation$$H</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>314,780,784,1559,27924,27925,76390</link.rule.ids></links><search><creatorcontrib>Munoz, Raúl C.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Villagra, Paolo</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Kremer, Germán</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Moraga, Luis</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Vidal, Guillermo</creatorcontrib><title>Control circuit for a scanning tunneling microscope</title><title>Review of scientific instruments</title><description>We have successfully built and tested a circuit designed to control a piezoelectric tube scanner having the standard single inner-electrode quartered outer-electrode configuration, using digital-to-analog ( D/A ) converters commercially available. To avoid noise associated with the PC, the signals transmitted by the D/A channels to the control electronics are received by instrumentation amplifiers INA 105 at the control circuit, providing 86 dB common mode rejection, thereby over four orders of magnitude of immunity to common mode noise. To prevent ground loops in the communication between the control electronics and the analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, a novel approach was used. The signals sent by the control electronics to the A/D converters were transmitted via isolation amplifiers ISO 122 followed by a 10 kHz Sallen–Key low pass filter incorporated at each output of the control circuit, providing galvanic isolation between the control electronics and the PC, thereby eliminating ground loops. The control circuit was designed to allow analog as well as digital feedback, selectable via a toggle switch. The design also incorporates the possibility of using two independent external signals to modulate the polarization of the sample and two independent external signals to modulate the piezoelectric transducer drive along the Z direction. It also incorporates the possibility of electronically canceling the slope that might occur while scanning due to the sample being tilted along the X axis (fast scan direction) and/or along the Y axis (slow scan direction). The circuit was tested using two 12 bit A/D–D/A converters DAS 1602 to control the scanner of a scanning tunneling microscope, with a home-built scanning head, electrometer, and preamplifier. With the complete system in operation but in the absence of tunneling current, the electrometer exhibits a current noise under 3 pA rms and a response time of 30 μs to a step input current, a performance that compares well with that of bulkier and more expensive commercial low noise current amplifiers. To calibrate the instrument and verify proper control operation, we obtained images of a commercial holographic grating covered with gold running the instrument in the digital feedback mode, using the algorithm described by Piner and Reifenberger [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 60, 3123 (1989)]. The control circuit and the electrometer turn out to be about one order of magnitude less expensive than commercially available control circuits and low noise current amplifiers of similar performance.</description><issn>0034-6748</issn><issn>1089-7623</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>1998</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><recordid>eNqdj0FLxDAUhIMoWFcP_oNeFbrmJU2aHqXoKix40XNIXxuJdJOSZAX_vVt2wbtzmTl8zDCE3AJdA5X8AdYAdUsZnJECqGqrRjJ-TgpKeV3JplaX5CqlL3qQACgI74LPMUwluoh7l0sbYmnKhMZ75z_LvPd-nJa0cxhDwjCP1-TCmimNNydfkY_np_fupdq-bV67x22FrG1yhVJSgQD90BoEhqOxsrGDECgV7RuObEA1cKkUxVbVaBg1giOaVoHtheErcnfsXYZTHK2eo9uZ-KOB6uWtBn16e2Dvj2xCl012wf8P_g7xD9TzYPkv2n1jQw</recordid><startdate>19980901</startdate><enddate>19980901</enddate><creator>Munoz, Raúl C.</creator><creator>Villagra, Paolo</creator><creator>Kremer, Germán</creator><creator>Moraga, Luis</creator><creator>Vidal, Guillermo</creator><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope></search><sort><creationdate>19980901</creationdate><title>Control circuit for a scanning tunneling microscope</title><author>Munoz, Raúl C. ; Villagra, Paolo ; Kremer, Germán ; Moraga, Luis ; Vidal, Guillermo</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c297t-c6605c11bd9ac12ceaf67fd55c680b73c2dc8d36880c984ca20a53cca981fb5a3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>1998</creationdate><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Munoz, Raúl C.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Villagra, Paolo</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Kremer, Germán</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Moraga, Luis</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Vidal, Guillermo</creatorcontrib><collection>CrossRef</collection><jtitle>Review of scientific instruments</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Munoz, Raúl C.</au><au>Villagra, Paolo</au><au>Kremer, Germán</au><au>Moraga, Luis</au><au>Vidal, Guillermo</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>Control circuit for a scanning tunneling microscope</atitle><jtitle>Review of scientific instruments</jtitle><date>1998-09-01</date><risdate>1998</risdate><volume>69</volume><issue>9</issue><spage>3259</spage><epage>3267</epage><pages>3259-3267</pages><issn>0034-6748</issn><eissn>1089-7623</eissn><coden>RSINAK</coden><abstract>We have successfully built and tested a circuit designed to control a piezoelectric tube scanner having the standard single inner-electrode quartered outer-electrode configuration, using digital-to-analog ( D/A ) converters commercially available. To avoid noise associated with the PC, the signals transmitted by the D/A channels to the control electronics are received by instrumentation amplifiers INA 105 at the control circuit, providing 86 dB common mode rejection, thereby over four orders of magnitude of immunity to common mode noise. To prevent ground loops in the communication between the control electronics and the analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, a novel approach was used. The signals sent by the control electronics to the A/D converters were transmitted via isolation amplifiers ISO 122 followed by a 10 kHz Sallen–Key low pass filter incorporated at each output of the control circuit, providing galvanic isolation between the control electronics and the PC, thereby eliminating ground loops. The control circuit was designed to allow analog as well as digital feedback, selectable via a toggle switch. The design also incorporates the possibility of using two independent external signals to modulate the polarization of the sample and two independent external signals to modulate the piezoelectric transducer drive along the Z direction. It also incorporates the possibility of electronically canceling the slope that might occur while scanning due to the sample being tilted along the X axis (fast scan direction) and/or along the Y axis (slow scan direction). The circuit was tested using two 12 bit A/D–D/A converters DAS 1602 to control the scanner of a scanning tunneling microscope, with a home-built scanning head, electrometer, and preamplifier. With the complete system in operation but in the absence of tunneling current, the electrometer exhibits a current noise under 3 pA rms and a response time of 30 μs to a step input current, a performance that compares well with that of bulkier and more expensive commercial low noise current amplifiers. To calibrate the instrument and verify proper control operation, we obtained images of a commercial holographic grating covered with gold running the instrument in the digital feedback mode, using the algorithm described by Piner and Reifenberger [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 60, 3123 (1989)]. The control circuit and the electrometer turn out to be about one order of magnitude less expensive than commercially available control circuits and low noise current amplifiers of similar performance.</abstract><doi>10.1063/1.1149021</doi><tpages>9</tpages></addata></record>
fulltext fulltext
identifier ISSN: 0034-6748
ispartof Review of scientific instruments, 1998-09, Vol.69 (9), p.3259-3267
issn 0034-6748
1089-7623
language eng
recordid cdi_scitation_primary_10_1063_1_1149021
source AIP Digital Archive
title Control circuit for a scanning tunneling microscope
url https://sfx.bib-bvb.de/sfx_tum?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2024-12-25T19%3A54%3A50IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-scitation_cross&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Control%20circuit%20for%20a%20scanning%20tunneling%20microscope&rft.jtitle=Review%20of%20scientific%20instruments&rft.au=Munoz,%20Ra%C3%BAl%20C.&rft.date=1998-09-01&rft.volume=69&rft.issue=9&rft.spage=3259&rft.epage=3267&rft.pages=3259-3267&rft.issn=0034-6748&rft.eissn=1089-7623&rft.coden=RSINAK&rft_id=info:doi/10.1063/1.1149021&rft_dat=%3Cscitation_cross%3Ersi%3C/scitation_cross%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&disable_directlink=true&sfx.directlink=off&sfx.report_link=0&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_id=info:pmid/&rfr_iscdi=true