Recent Developments in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Scanning tunneling microscopy and related local probe methods have led to a novel perception of nanometer- and atomic-scale structures and processes. Since the structural information is obtained directly in real space, the scanning probe techniques offer considerable advantages compared with diffraction techniques for the investigation of non-periodic structures at solid surfaces. In addition, the local probe methods allow to study almost any kind of physical property of microstructures with submicron down to atomic resolution.