Condensed Matter Experimental Group
The scanning tunneling microscope is a device capable of observing an image with atomic resolution and is capable of observing physical phenomena on the atomic scale. In this study we are interested in the nm scale mechanical properties, normally studied macroscopically, which can vary in different locations on the surface. These properties are the stress and strain tensors, the elastic constants, the surface energy and stress. These values can be measured either using a external perturbation (the STM tip) or internal perturbation (a heteroepitaxial island, chemical reaction).