Tunneling Microscopes

Quantum mechanics represents the pinnacle of human thought. It is important to recall the various experimental probes of the quantum world: Stern-Gerlach, Aharonov-Bohm, double slit, and Bell's inequalities. I was fortunate to work in a tunneling lab and develop my expertise, and the focus of General Physics, into understanding the seemingly random ordering of the Ångstrom scale world which is most likely a fractal representation of a more fundamental generating function at the infinitesimal. Experiments are the collective scientific enterprise culminating in the summation of massive ensembles marching in phase to uncover certain values associated with, in this case, tunneling spectra of energy correlated with a probability function. Tunneling electrons indicate the located density of states of the region of interest, probing the basic solutions to the wave equation in a novel apparatus. These probes allow us to peer into the most fundamental driving forces in the electronic landscape of particles and surfaces. Here, lattices form, particles adhere to surfaces, adsorbates migrate to boundaries, and topography forms from the most exquisite of forces. Nano-newtons, nano-joules, and nanometers are the values of interest. Formulating a basis of the scientific enterprise at the smallest scales is an approach for engineering in the molecular foundry.

This all sounds too complicated. Tunneling microscopy is basically a tool to investigate the nanoscale and atomic world. From understanding the behavior of electromagnetic theory and quantum mechanics at this scale, can we develop better quantum bits, entanglement schemes, and transistors. The tunneling microscope array, or multiple tips working in concert to build nano-machines is a far out thought. What we have is a world where engineering meets the state of the art. Developing more control of the atomic scale will allow science to develop smaller and more sophisticated electronics, circuits, and circuit elements used in quantum computers. We have to see where this future science will go in order to produce the tools for all sorts of developments.