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All-electronic Nanosecond-resolved Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Facilitating the Investigation of Single Dopant Charge Dynamics
Published on: January 19, 2018
Fast low-noise transimpedance amplifier for scanning tunneling microscopy and beyond
Martin Štubian1, Juraj Bobek1, Martin Setvin1
1Institute of Applied Physics, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
A transimpedance amplifier has been designed for scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The amplifier features low noise (limited by the Johnson noise of the 1 GΩ feedback resistor at low input current and low frequencies), sufficient bandwidth for most STM applications (50 kHz at 35 pF input capacitance), a large dynamic range (0.1 pA-50 nA without range switching), and a low input voltage offset. The amplifier is also suited for placing its first stage into the cryostat of a low-temperature STM, minimizing the input capacitance and reducing the Johnson noise of the feedback resistor. The amplifier may also find applications for specimen current imaging and electron-beam-induced current measurements in scanning electron microscopy and as a photodiode amplifier with a large dynamic range. This paper also discusses the sources of noise including the often neglected effect of non-balanced input impedance of operational amplifiers and describes how to accurately measure and adjust the frequency response of low-current transimpedance amplifiers.
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