title: A 350 mK, 9 T scanning tunneling microscope for the study of superconducting thin films on insulating substrates and single crystals.
abstract: We report the construction and performance of a low temperature, high field scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating down to 350 mK and in magnetic fields up to 9 T, with thin film deposition and in situ single crystal cleaving capabilities. The main focus lies on the simple design of STM head and a sample holder design that allows us to get spectroscopic data on superconducting thin films grown in situ on insulating substrates. Other design details on sample transport, sample preparation chamber, and vibration isolation schemes are also described. We demonstrate the capability of our instrument through the atomic resolution imaging and spectroscopy on NbSe2 single crystal and spectroscopic maps obtained on homogeneously disordered NbN thin film.
authors.affiliation: Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Rd., Colaba, Mumbai 400 005, India.
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamlapure
authors.affiliation: Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Rd., Colaba, Mumbai 400 005, India.
authors.forename: Garima
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saraswat
authors.affiliation: Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Rd., Colaba, Mumbai 400 005, India.
authors.forename: Somesh Chandra
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ganguli
authors.affiliation: Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Rd., Colaba, Mumbai 400 005, India.
authors.forename: Vivas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bagwe
authors.affiliation: Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Rd., Colaba, Mumbai 400 005, India.
authors.forename: Pratap
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raychaudhuri
authors.affiliation: Excel Instruments, 28, Sarvodaya Industrial Premises, Off Mahakali Caves Road, Andheri (East), Mumbai 400 093, India.
authors.forename: Subash P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Pai