Dynamic tunneling force microscopy and single electron tunneling force spectroscopy

An introduction to Scanning Probe Microscopy is given along with some basic principles in the detection of electron tunneling by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) using electrostatic force. Dynamic Tunneling Force Microscopy (DTFM), a new scanned probe force-detected tunneling technique, is presented and described, in which shuttling of electrons between electron trap states and a conductive AFM probe provides a means to image these trap states with subnanometer spatial resolution. The further development of Single Electron Tunneling Force Spectroscopy (SETFS) is described, providing a method to measure the energy of electronic trap states. It is used to find the energy spectrum of individual monolayer-protected gold clusters. A novel technique is presented whereby the electron trap states' depth and energy are independently determined using SETFS. Finally, a new technique is described and explored, by which "single spin" electron spin resonance measurements can in principle be performed. The method employs the detection of magnetic resonance through spin dependent tunneling, providing a means to identify individual paramagnetic electron states in dielectric films with atomic spatial resolution.