Scanning tunneling microscopy

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy is a special way of looking at very small things that are too tiny to see with our eyes. It uses a very special tool called a microscope that is so powerful that it can zoom in on things at the atomic level.

Picture a toy train that is so small, your eyes can't even see it. With the help of a Scanning Tunneling Microscope, we can zoom in really close and see the surface of the toy train as if we are walking on it.

This microscope works by having a tiny, needle-like probe that is so small it can detect changes in the shape of individual atoms. The probe is brought extremely close to the object being looked at, but without touching it.

When the probe moves close to the atom, a special energy called an electron jumps between the atom and the probe, almost like a tiny jump rope. Scientists can measure this movement of energy and use it to create a very detailed picture of what the object looks like up close.

Through this process, scientists can learn a lot about the structure of materials at the atomic level, which is important for many different scientific fields like physics, chemistry, and materials science.