Paper NS-WeM12
First Launch of XTIP - The World’s First User Program for the Combination of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy with Synchrotron Radiation

Wednesday, October 23, 2019, 11:40 am, Room A222

The combination of the ultimate spatial resolution of scanning probe microscopy with the chemical and magnetic sensitivity of synchrotron x-rays has opened the prospect for an entirely new way of nanoscale materials’ characterization. Over the last couple of years, Argonne National Laboratory has pioneered the development of synchrotron x-ray scanning tunneling microscopy (SX-STM). The technique has demonstrated imaging with direct elemental contrast down to the level of single atom height as well as imaging of nanoscale magnetic domains of thin films.

In order to open up this new capability to the entire science community, and to fully exploit the special capabilities of the technique, XTIP, a dedicated beamline for SX-STM has been construction at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source. To meet the scientific objective of the nanoscience and nanomagnetism communities most effectively, XTIP offers full polarization control over the 500-1600 eV photon energy range. The dedicated XTIP beamline, inaugurated in the summer of 2019, provides researchers access to a one-of-a-kind instrument. Among the potential breakthroughs are “designer” materials created from controlled assemblies of atoms and molecules, and the emergence of entirely new phenomena in chemistry and physics. The easy process for obtaining access to the XTIP beamline will also be covered.

This work was performed at the Advanced Photon Source and the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.