PNNL

Abstract

It is shown that variations in interfacial tension induced by the charged tunneling tip may influence the lateral stability of imaged objects during scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on both solid and liquid substrates. The induced interfacial tension gradient may also play a dominanting role in the mechanical stability of liquid substrates used for tunneling microscopy. The electrostatic model developed in this work parallels the model of a polarized electrochemical interface. The interfacial tension effects is compared with another electostatic effect: the interaction between the electric field and dipolar or charged adsorbates.