Surface Investigation by Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy in Liquid Medium

Scanning tunneling microscopy in liquid environment has gained an increased interest in recent years. The specific features of the in situ observation of surface structures at the solid/liquid interface are first presented. Next, a high resolution imaging of high oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) graphite surface shows the potentiality of our home-made microscope. The last study, performed on technological InP. substrates, illustrates the extensive applications of in situ imaging in the fields of semiconductor technology