Imaging of granular high‐Tc thin films using a scanning tunnelling microscope with large scan range

SUMMARY STM images are presented in the micron scale, taken in UHV with a single‐tube scanner STM with SEM control of the tip position. For calibration, a carbon grid was used from which the coupling of x and y scan axes has been determined as well as the piezo‐sensitivity factors. Images taken of a YBa2Cu3O7‐δ, film display the granular structure of the crystallites formed during the post‐evaporation annealing. A direct comparison of STM scans with SEM micrographs was made which demonstrates the complementary information obtained by the two methods. The obtained resolution is compared to the tip shape which becomes crucial for the imaging of corrugated surfaces on the micron scale. With a simple geometric model, an attempt has been made to reconstruct the surface topography from STM scans based on the knowledge of the tip shape.