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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
The new FAST module: A portable and transparent add-on module for time-resolved investigations with commercial
Carlo Dri1, Mirco Panighel2, Daniel Tiemann3
1Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste, S.S. 14 km 163.5, Basovizza, I-34149 Trieste, Italy; CNR-IOM Laboratorio TASC, S.S. 14 km 163.5, Basovizza, I-34149 Trieste, Italy.
Abstract:
Time resolution is one of the most severe limitations of scanning probe microscopies (SPMs), since the typical image acquisition times are in the order of several seconds or even few minutes. As a consequence, the characterization of dynamical processes occurring at surfaces (e.g. surface diffusion, film growth, self-assembly and chemical reactions) cannot be thoroughly addressed by conventional SPMs. To overcome this limitation, several years ago we developed a first prototype of the FAST module, an add-on instrument capable of driving a commercial scanning tunneling microscope (STM) at and beyond video rate frequencies. Here we report on a fully redesigned version of the FAST module, featuring improved performance and user experience, which can be used both with STMs and atomic force microscopes (AFMs), and offers additional capabilities such as an atom tracking mode. All the new features of the FAST module, including portability between different commercial instruments, are described in detail and practically demonstrated.
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