Week+of+July+14

Jun's Logbook
=Week of July 14=

__July 14__
Construction in front of the building has moved, should improve image quality (less noise).

Made new coronene/octanethiol on Au sample.

50 Hz noise still prevalent. Sine waves still apparent in image lines.

__July 15__
STM is still noisy. The seismometer reads 10 Hz frequencies outside of the room, on top of the box, and inside the box, but the spectroscopy reading from the STM gives a lot of low frequency noise in addition to some ~45 Hz noise. The low frequency noise shouldn't be a problem, but finding the source of the ~45 Hz noise has been a mission impossible.

The laser should be in soon.

__July 16__
The laser has arrived.

There is still a lot of noise, unfortunately. Annette and I removed the scope for closer inspection. We removed the scope and fiddled with the springs to make sure everything is isolated and that the scope is hanging low enough for the magnets to have an effect.

Afterwards, the micro-slider did not work for some reason. The seismograph yields the same frequency data. Checked for tips that may have shorted the electrical connections.

We took the scope out to examine internal stability. After fiddling with various screws, making sure the piezo wasn't cracked, and lengthening the springs, the noise reduced a lot! It seems that the springs weren't letting the scope hang low enough so that the base magnets could take effect.

__July 17__
Bought various materials to put together the laser switch setup. {Metal Box, wire, Soft On/Off SPST Button Switch, D-cell Battery holder]

We had Kevin drill holes and I soldered the wire together. Once a mounting system is developed, the batteries will be connected and scanning will commence.

__July 18__
The laser control setup has been completed!

Heating it for 10 and 20 minute increments does not seem to have an effect.