Week+of+5-9+and+5-10

5-9-12 I came in today and before I could begin scanning, Natalie had me do something pertaining to my new project. I tested the resistances of old gold samples then connected two wires to different sides of the sample using silver conductive paint. After that, I tested the resistances of the gold samlpes. We expected them to be lower than before. They were usually only a slight bit lower or just around what they were before. More testing will be necessary to get a better idea. I checked three different samples. The first one was about the same. The second was unsuccessful in my attempt to connect the wires. The third was slightly less than before. I assume I shall work on it more tomorrow, or next week, or during the summer. After the third test I returned to scanning the sample of Octanethiol on Au(111) that Natalie prepared. The first two scans ended in tip cuts after I adjusted the scanning parameters and still had nothing of value. "AA" had quite a few features but also many streaks and was fairly blurry. I zoomed into the left middle region. This next scan was even blurrier than before. I changed the tip part 1/4 of the way through it. The next scan was incredibly bumpy even at a Z-range of 200 nm. The next scan was also very blurry and was not worth finishing as it had reached the time for me to go for the day. 5-9-12AA media type="custom" key="17438356" This image has many decently defined features. The majority of the image is grainy and there are not clear boundaries between regions. The upper right and lower left corners have streaks and are fairly blurry, respectively. I tried zooming in to the left middle region filled with valleys, but the scan was overly blurry and although I changed the scanning parameters, the tip prevented me from gaining a good look at the region. media type="custom" key="17438856" Above is the general layout of what I did today. I took old gold samples, attached wires to them with silver conductive paint and used a Voltmeter to check the resistance between the ends of the two wires through the sample. 5-10-12 I came in today and began by scanning a sample of Octanethiol on Au(111). The first two scans ended in my cutting the tip before I finished them. "AA" was slightly better but still blurry. I zoomed in to the upper right quadrant of it. The computer malfunctioned during the scan and would keep freezing. I restarted both the STM and the computer. It would not approach after so I cleaned the sample holder and platform. The next image had a decent amount of hills and valleys; I decided to shoot the laser at it. I shot it for 30 seconds and let it cool for 45 seconds.Afterwards I scanned an area that resembles the previous image. 5-10-12AB-left 5-10-12AC-right media type="custom" key="17759756" In white, I have outlined the relevant areas that apply to both images. In red, I have outlined the region on the left to highlight how the scanning region moved down and to the right. In blue, I have highlighted three valleys that are more well-defined in the second image, suggesting that the applied laser provided an increase in quality. The region I circled in black is a hill which has decreased dramatically in size from the before to the after image, suggesting that some of the Octanethiol had evaporated. The regions in green and yellow both contained clumps of molecules but have both disappeared from the before to the after image. Neither image was incredibly well-defined but we can see some of the effects on these molecule clusters from the laser.