A variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscope capable of single-molecule vibrational spectroscopy

The design and performance of a variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is presented. The microscope operates from 8 to 350 K in ultrahigh vacuum. The thermally compensated STM is suspended by springs from the cold tip of a continuous flow cryostat and is completely surrounded by two radiation shields. The design allows for in situ dosing and irradiation of the sample as well as for the exchange of samples and STM tips. With the STM feedback loop off, the drift of the tip–sample spacing is approximately 0.001 Å/min at 8 K. It is demonstrated that the STM is well-suited for the study of atomic-scale chemistry over a wide temperature range, for atomic-scale manipulation, and for single-molecule inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS).