# \*\*\* - Interesting stuff! **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [October 8, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/interesting-stuff/74562 "2009-10-08T05:25:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Geoff](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/geoff/32/6104_2.png) [@Geoff](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Geoff)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/interesting-stuff/74562/1 "2009-10-08T05:25:34Z")
I was reading up on \*\*\* recently. I must say that Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rohrer really knew what was up back in 1981 when they invented the \*\*\*. (def deserved the Nobel in '86 for the \*\*\*) The \*\*\* is based on the concept of quantum tunnelling, which in and of itself is just as amazing as the \*\*\*! Here’s how you determine the tunnelling current used in the \*\*\*: ![http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/0/3/5/03500fca9e755383ae080907a59f41cd.png](http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/0/3/5/03500fca9e755383ae080907a59f41cd.png) Here’s a scematic of the \*\*\*: ![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/ScanningTunnelingMicroscope_schematic.png/400px-ScanningTunnelingMicroscope_schematic.png](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/ScanningTunnelingMicroscope_schematic.png/400px-ScanningTunnelingMicroscope_schematic.png) You guys can check out this wiki article if you’re interested in learning more about the \*\*\*: > **[Scanning tunneling microscope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_tunneling_microscope)** > > A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level. Its development in 1981 earned its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer (at IBM Zürich), the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. For a STM, good resolution is considered to be 0.1 nm lateral resolution and 0.01 nm (10 pm) depth resolution. With this resolution, individual atoms within materials are routinely imaged and manipulated. The STM can be used not only in ultra-high vacuum but also STM is b... * * * ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/interesting-stuff/74562/2 "2009-10-08T05:28:57Z")
I wonder how hard it is to properly tune the control voltages to get maximum magnification without over-amplification of the tunnelling current? ---
**Author:** ![Onyx\_Z32](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/onyx_z32/32/7581_2.png) [@Onyx\_Z32](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Onyx_Z32)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/interesting-stuff/74562/3 "2009-10-08T05:29:01Z")
Nice try, lol.