Electrochemical nanostructuring with ultrashort voltage pulses.
The application of nanosecond voltage pulses to electrodes provides three ways to conduct local electrochemistry on the micro- to nanometer scale. (1) The finite charging time of the double-layer capacity allows the machining of three-dimensional microstructures. (2) In an electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope, reactions are confined to the tunneling region, due to the depletion of the electrolyte in the tip--surface gap. (3) Ordering processes, following very fast electrochemical reactions, lead to unconventional island patterns on a surface.
Kirchner
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Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
Xia
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Schuster
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R
D004563:Electrochemistry; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning