Week+of+7-30+to+8-3

7-30-2012 I came in and Matt had already been working with the scope. I joined him quickly in scanning a sample of Octanethiol on Au(111). AG- 7851.65 Å- First image of the day for me. It had a slightly bad tip. This image had many mounds which primarily lied on the edges of steps. This has been happening in our study with gold after the gold has been heated. There is a blur that covers the whole image and the step boundaries are not very distinct.

AH- Same area as AG and size.I heated it for 3 seconds. The tip crashed. This was of the same region, just moved slightly up. AI- 7851.65 Å-Post tip crash. This had a weird area. I moved the sample around then approached again. This image drifted and I was unable to finish it. It was not too unfortunate though because it was a very poor and blurry imaged marked with streaks and noise. AJ- 7851.65 Å- I heated this for 2 seconds. In this image, almost all of the mounds are located on the edges of the steps. The deep pits scattered around the image most likely contributed to the blurriness of this image along with the tip. AK- 7851.65 Å- This resembled the before image but it was to the right. This image had a lot more streaks than the ones before it. It is a bit harder to see the features underneath the haze of this image. There are quite a few craters in this image though, suggesting that a monolayer has been formed. AL-7851.65 Å. I adjusted the X and Y offsets to be away from any previous region. I then heated it for 6 seconds. Likewise, this image was also not very defined. Streaks plagued this image as well as the deep pits, increasing the blurriness of it. AM- 7851.65 Å. This image did not resemble AL at all. Small mounds formed on the edges of the step. This image is slightly better than the one before it. There were less streaks but it was still pretty blurry. Also, the step edges were not particularly well-defined. AN- Same region as AM- I heated it for 7 seconds. When I turned the power supply off, the tip crashed. We were unable to find a good area after that. 7-31-2012 I began scanning immediately when I came in. Jolai and Matt had been scanning before I arrived. AL- 1000 Å, 32 A/D gain. This image was somewhat fuzzy. Next I took an image of the whole scannable region. The reason that I do not believe this image to have atomic resolution is because of the drift at the beginning and the haze that covers the one crater that is in this image. Also, there does not appear to be any structure in the rest of the image; it simply looks like random noise.

AM- 7852.89 Å, 4 A/D gain. This image was also fairly blurry. This image had quite a few features -- particularly mounds. The deep pits throughout obscured most of the image. There are some faintly visible craters but not an overwhelming amound. AN-7852.89 Å, This image had the same area as AM. I retracted the tip 15 steps, heated it for 5 seconds, and then let it cool for a couple minutes. I approached then let it drift for a couple more minutes. I adjusted my drift and scanned. AO-7852.89 Å. It looked like an area that Matt and Jolai scanned earlier. This image, besides the pits, was a fairly flat image. The features were fairly easy to see and the step edges were decently well defined. AP- 1000.89 Å. This image showed atomic resolution. The reason I believe this image to have had atomic resolution is because there is not much noise in it and the surface looks like a structured layer of gold atoms. AQ- 1000.89 Å. I tried to take another image of the same area as AP. There was a lot of drift though. This image, like the one before, displays atomic resolution. This image, like the one after it, show a fairly structured surface. The brightest parts of these images are most likely caused by junk on the surface. Also, there is not much noise in these images. AR- 1000.89 Å. This was another repeat area. There was still a lot of drift. I retracted the tip 10 steps then heated it for 10 seconds. It crashed. I tried to scan afterwards but it was so awful that I changed the tip. Matt suggested the take the resistor off and just try to get atomic resolution and to see typical things associated with Octanethiol samples. AS- 7852.89 Å.The area continued to drift while scanning. The sample was very scratched up from all the fiddling with the resistor. I cut the tip and slightly moved the sample afterwards. Rather than changing the tip, I probably should have zoomed in to one of the flatter regions on the upper half of this image. It looked as if there were some very flat areas and my tip was pretty decent. I assume most of the blurriness as caused more so by the pits than anything else. AT- 7852.89 Å. It was fairly blurry. I zoomed in on a flat area in the right middle. It was not drifting as much earlier.

There is not really much to this image. It is almost all blurred out and there are no real features to speak of. The step edges are not well-defined and this lack of quality is probably caused by the huge pit that runs through the center of the image. AU- 1000.89 Å, 32 A/D. This image was incredibly flat. I moved the scanning region a bit up and to the left. Unlike the images AP, AQ, and AR, this image does not have atomic resolution. It appears more so that this picture is a function of noise rather than the surface. This noise is much clearer in the next two images with the step boundaries and the increase of random white dots throughout the images. AV- 1000.89 Å. This image was also quite blurry. I moved the scanning region down a bit. AW- 1000.89 Å. After this image, I moved the scanning region up a little more and to the left. AX- 1000.89 Å. It did not seem like this image had atomic resolution. I think the tip was quite poor.

This image somewhat resembles the previous three in its quality. The white dots look to be caused simply by noise or junk rather than the actual surface. I believe this is so because of the step boundaries. I annealed a sample then put in in solution that Matt prepared. 8-1-12 I came in and began scanning a sample of Octanethiol on Au(111) with Matt. AA-2000 Å. We were not able to finish this image. There was too much drift that prevented us. The streaks in this image were the main reason for its poor quality. There was clearly too much noise occurring and the drift would not let us finish it. AB- 2000 Å. This image was in the upper left quadrant of the scannable area. I zoomed in to it. The two huge pits on both sides of this image are the main cause for this image's blurriness. There are some craters though and the step boundaries are somewhat decently defined. AC- 1000 Å. This image was in the lower right region of AB. I zoomed in to the lower left of it. This image has what could potentially be Octanethiol molecules forming boundaries around craters. This is probably most clear on the left side. However, it is still a fairly blurry and noisy picture. AD- 500 Å, 64 A/D gain. In this image, it is harder to tell if my conjecture about the previous image is true. This image seems to just contain streaks and noise. There does not look to be any definite order like there somewhat seemed to be in the previous image regarding the molecules. AE- 2000 Å. We were not able to finish this image. The streaks in this image are quite evident. They cover all of the craters here and blur out any molecules we could hope to see on this surface. AF- 1000 Å. This image is of the upper middle region of AE. The many white dots throughout this image are most likely caused by junk on the surface. It does not appear that this tip acquired atomic resolution because of the poor quality of the step boundaries and the many streaks seen throughout this image. AG- 500 Å. This was of the lower left of AF. This image reaffirms my suspicion that the majority of what was in AF was caused simply by junk on the surface and by noise. AH- 500 Å, 32 A/D. This image was somewhat blurry and had a bit of drift. There seems to be less noise in this one over the craters but there also appears to be more junk on this surface. The streaks in this image are also less obvious but I still believe that there was not atomic resolution in this image. AI- 1000 Å. I retracted the tip 15 steps and then heated this region for 7 seconds. This image a decent amount of pretty decent craters. Unfortunately, they were covered in streaks. Likewise, this image does not appear to have atomic resolution. AJ- 1000 Å- After image. This image could possibly display atomic resolution. However, it would be of gold and most likely not any Octanethiol molecules as they cannot be seen very clearly with all the streaks and noise affecting this image's integrity. Also, this does not appear to be the same region as the before image. AK- 1000 Å This image is very poor. It s noisy throughout. The step boundaries are not very discrete. There is only one crater in this image and the majority of the image just looks like it is junk on top of the surface. I decided to change the tip following this image.

AL- 7853.52 Å. 8 A/D gain. This is a pretty good looking picture. The step boundaries look relatively well-defined and the craters seem to have fairly distinct boundaries. It is also a very flat image.

AM-1000.0 Å. This image included the area from AJ There are quite a bit of streaks in this image. There also looks to be a decent amount of junk on the surface. It does not appear that there are any Octanethiol molecules on this surface.

AN- 500 Å, 64 A/D gain. The streaks in this image compromise the integrity of this scan. It is a mostly blurry scan and there does not appear to be any particular structure. AO- 1000 Å. This image contains the regions from AM and AJ in its upper right corner. I adjusted the X and Y offsets to search for that region again. AP- 1000 Å. I retracted the tip 15 steps then I heated this region for 7 seconds. It also included the region that was in both AM and AJ. I let it cool for a few minutes then approached the tip. I let it drift for a few more minutes. AQ- 7853.52 Å, 8 A/D gain, After Image. It drifted down and to the left from before. This image definitely shows the same general region as before. One unique feature that can be seen in all of the large images from this day is the bunny shaped structure in the upper left quadrant.

AS- 7853.52 Ā. This is once more a scan of the region in AQ. I was merely trying to get it in a better position to find the region from earlier.

AT- 1000 Å, 64 A/D. This included the same region from AJ, AM, and AP. I retracted the tip 15 steps then heated the gold for 7 seconds. This included the regions from earlier but was a lot blurrier than most of the previous scans of this region. The cause for this was most likely the pit that the scan encountered in the bottom of the image that would not allow us to finish it. AU- 7853.52 Å, 8 A/D. It drifted to the left and up a bit. This image once again contains the bunny shaped object in its upper left corner. I tried to adjust it to find the region from before. AV- 7853.52 Å. This region drifted further to the right and slightly down. I adjusted this then found the same region from before. AX- 1000.52 Å, 64 A/D. This included the same region as AJ, AM, AP, and AT. It was a little bit better than AT. It still does not look to include any Octanethiol molecules though. This could be caused by the quality of the tip or once more by the pit at the bottom of the image. There is also a fairly decent amount of junk on the surface. The next two images are of the same region that we continually encountered throughout the day taken by Matt after I had to leave. They do not offer much insight into the surface of the gold or the molecules on the surface. Both contain a great deal of streaks and junk on their surfaces. They are most importantly a proof of concept; that we can perform heating on gold in this environment and be able to scan the same area multiple times. BB

BD

8-2-12 I began the day by scanning unannealed gold. Matt and Jolai destroyed the sample that we had prepared. AF- 7853.20 Å, 2 A/D. This image, like the next two is of the same area with some slight drift. Initially, these images seem to have no value but in AH, there appears a triangle in the upper left quadrant that encompasses the main terrace. AG- 7853.20 Å, 4 A/D. There was a slight drift. This image was supposed to be the same region as AF. AH- 7853.20 Å, 2 A/D. This image was also supposed to be the same area as AG. There was some more drift though. I retracted the tip 15 steps, heated it for 3 seconds, then let it cool for a couple minutes. The approach only took 17 seconds. AI- 7853.20 Å, After image. There were not very many differences. I retracted the tip 15 steps, heated it this time for 5 seconds, then let it cool for a couple minutes. The approach, once more, took 17 steps. I fixed the drift and began scanning again. AK- 7853.20 Å, After image. This was of the same area also. I retracted the tip 15 steps, heated the gold for 7 seconds, then let it cool for a couple minutes. The approach took 17 steps again.

AM- 7853.20 Å. This was again the same area as the previous few. I retracted the tip 15 steps, heated the gold for 9 seconds, then let it cool for a couple minutes. The tip crashed this time at the end of heating. The tip was no longer crashed immediately after I turned the power supply off. It tried to approach and scan but the scan was too atrocious to gain anything from. Although no clear in AI, there is definitely another triangle that forms after the heating in AK and AM. If I remember correctly, this is a characteristic of annealed gold, implying that, as we heated the gold, we were annealing the surface.. I annealed a new sample and placed it in a solution of Octanethiol.

8-3-2012 I scanned a sample I prepared yesterday. Matt had scanned unannealed gold before I came. AA- 2000.10 Å, 32 A/D. It started out somewhat blurry but it got better towards the end. The majority of this image is obscured because of tip quality. There is a large amount of junk spread out across the surface. This junk is shown by the many little bright specks. and the two larger blobs in the lower left quadrant. No surface molecules are present in this image and the step edges are relatively uncertain.

AB- 2000.10 Å. It should have been the same area as AA but the tip was messing the sample so I changed it. This image was equally poor, though it did have more junk. No surface molecules can be observed here as a general haze covers the entire image. AC- 2000.10 Å. I changed the tip after this image because it was also of poor quality. Because of the horrible drift and image quality here, I quickly stopped the scan and changed the tip. AD- 2000.10 Å, 16 A/D. This image did not have much to offer.There are streaks throughout and a general haze covers the whole image.there are lots of junk particles visible here too. AE-2000.10 Å. This is a very strange image. There is a great deal of drift and there are a lot of streaks, indicating a low quality tip.

AF- 7853.51 Å, 4 A/D. This was a full image. Following it, I retracted the tip 15 steps, heated it for 5 seconds, let it cool for a couple minutes, then approached it. It only took 18 steps to approach. I let it drift for a couple minutes before scanning. This image does not have very many defining characteristics; there are not many craters or mounds. The only distinct features here are the orientation of its pits in relation to the surface. AG- 7853.51 Å. The tip drifted up and to the left. I adjusted the X and Y offsets to try to find the area in AE and AD. The main point of this image was to search for the regions from earlier rather than to gain any insight into the surface molecules.

AH- 7853.51 Å. This image includes the areas from AE and AD. I stopped it halfway through and scanned that area once I had found it. I retracted the tip 15 steps, heated the gold for 7 seconds, let it cool for a couple minutes, then approached the tip in 18 steps. I let it drift for a minute. This image actually includes the regions from earlier, at least those in AF. The step in the middle of this image with the relatively large crater connected to the larger pit resembles that same region in AF. However, the tip quality still did not improve and no surface molecules are seen here. There is also a decent amount of junk on this surface. AJ- I was not very sure about this image. We tried to move the X and Y offsets to find the area from earlier. This image did not have any craters or mounds. It was a fairly bland image marred by blurriness and streaks.

The tip crashed during my next scan. I retracted it about 50 steps then heated it for 15 seconds. The tip crashed about 15 seconds into the heating. I let it cool for a few minutes then re-approached. I let it cool and drift for a couple more minutes then scanned. AK- The tip crashed halfway through it. This image was horrendous, even though I was only able to finish half of it. The crashed tip probably also negatively affected the sample. There is not very much to this image. It is fairly reasonable that the tip had crashed because it is definitely of poor quality here.