scanning tunneling microscope

noun

: a microscope that makes use of the phenomenon of tunneling electrons to map the positions of individual atoms in a surface or to move atoms around on a surface

scanning tunneling microscopy noun

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Heinrich used a scanning tunneling microscope to align the iron atoms so each one takes on a magnetic polarity opposite that of its neighbor. —Jonathon Keats, Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2012

The revolution began quietly in 1981, when Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer at IBM in Zurich invented the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), which could read a surface atom by atom. —Andrew Grant, Discover Magazine, 22 Sep. 2010

By moving the needle of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) across a surface and monitoring the electric current that flows through it, scientists can map a surface to the level of single atoms. —Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 20 Oct. 2022

Each car was propelled by a gentle electric pulse generated at the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). —Dhananjay Khadilkar, Ars Technica, 20 Apr. 2022

The cars will be powered by electron pulses from a scanning tunneling microscope. —Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 31 Mar. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above