Optical Pump-Probe STM

Hidemi Shigekawa, Shoji Yoshida, Osamu Takeuchi and Haruhiro Oigawa

Faculty of Pure and Applied Science, University of Tsukuba

Abstract: We have succeeded in developing an entirely new microscopy technique of visualizing photoinduced carrier dynamics, including spins, by integrating the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) technique and the quantum optics technique. By the developed technique, the local structures and electronic states of atoms and molecules can be observed with femtosecond time resolution and the atomic-level spatial resolution of STM. In this paper, we discuss the present and future of this field by overviewing the new microscopy techniques and those for the THz-STM which we have been developing.

Key words: STM, ultrashort pulse laser, pump-probe method, THz-STM, time-resolved STM