NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.

Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

PUBLICATIONS

Sounds of Atoms: Life in Science

Published

Author(s)

Stephan J. Stranick

Abstract

Early in setting up our nanoscience laboratory at Penn State, we were frustrated because we could not peer into the tunneling junctions of our scanning tunneling microscopes (STMs) to see what the atoms were doing. We were particularly vexed when singular events, such as an atom moving on the end of the STM probe tip, confounded our data and forced us to start over. Such an event was very difficult to identify; it would be just a blip in a recorded image or a flash on an oscilloscope, and it would not be recognizable at all in the frequency spectrum of noise monitored on our spectrum analyzer.
Citation
Science Magazine
Volume
322
Pub Type
Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

"ATOM", "STM".

Citation

Stranick, S. (2008), Sounds of Atoms: Life in Science, Science Magazine, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=832426 (Accessed October 15, 2025)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact [email protected].

Created October 10, 2008, Updated February 17, 2017
Was this page helpful?