The origin of spectral distortion in electric field modulation spectroscopy based on scanning tunneling microscopy

Electric field modulation spectroscopy using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM-EFMS) measurements were performed for a Si(1 1 1) surface with epitaxially-grown β-FeSi₂ islands. STM-EFMS spectra acquired around the indirect energy gap of Si reproduced the photon energy peak position observed in conventional macroscopic EFMS experiments. However, a considerable discrepancy was found in the energy position of the accompanying spectral dip. We examined two possibilities for the cause of this discrepancy. The first interpretation is that the STM-‘EFMS’ spectra may simply reflect the local density of states based on essentially the same principle as that of tunneling spectroscopy. However, this interpretation is ruled out by the facts that almost identical STM-EFMS spectra are obtained also out of the regime of tunneling. The second interpretation is a spectral distortion due to a large electric field steadily built in the sample surface, which is supported experimentally by a spectral shift of the dip energy that is induced by altering the tip-induced band bending.     

Synchrotron infrared nano-spectroscopy and -imaging

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy has evolved into a powerful analytical technique to probe molecular and lattice vibrations, low-energy electronic excitations and correlations, and related collective surface plasmon, phonon, or other polaritonic resonances. In combination with scanning probe microscopy, near-field infrared nano-spectroscopy and -imaging techniques have recently emerged as a frontier in imaging science, enabling the study of complex heterogeneous materials with simultaneous nanoscale spatial resolution and chemical and quantum state spectroscopic specificity. Here, we describe synchrotron infrared nano-spectroscopy (SINS), which takes advantage of the low-noise, broadband, high spectral irradiance, and coherence of synchrotron infrared radiation for near-field infrared measurements across the mid- to far-infrared with nanometer spatial resolution. This powerful combination provides a qualitatively new form of broadband spatio-spectral analysis of nanoscale, mesoscale, and surface phenomena that were previously difficult to study with IR techniques, or even any form of micro-spectroscopy in general. We review the development of SINS, describe its technical implementations, and highlight selected examples representative of the rapidly growing range of applications in physics, chemistry, biology, materials science, geology, and atmospheric and space sciences.