Abstract:
Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is one of the main techniques for direct visualization of the surface electronic structure and chemical analysis of multi-component surfaces at the atomic scale. This review is focused on the role of the tip orbital structure and tip-surface interaction in STM imaging with picometer spatial resolution. Fabrication of STM probes with well-defined structure and selective visualization of individual electron orbitals in the STM experiments with controlled tunneling gap and probe structure are demonstrated.