Full temperature calibration from 4 to 300 K of the voltage response of piezoelectric tube scanner PZT-5A for use in scanning tunneling microscopes

We have calibrated the displacement/voltage (Å/V) response of our piezoelectric scanning tube (PZT-5A) by imaging graphite at over 40 temperatures between 4 and 300 K. We have also calibrated the (Å/V) response as a function of voltage up to 220 V at room temperature, imaging a gold-plated diffraction grating. We find that the temperature dependence of the (Å/V) response is linear to within 10% and is reduced by a factor of 5.5 on decreasing temperature from 300 to 4.2 K. The near linearity with temperature of the (Å/V) response makes the PZT-5A lead zirconate titanate composition a convenient choice for low temperature scanning tunneling microscope piezo tube elements.