Kyoko Honbo

Development of a New Nanoscale Electrochemical Method Using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

A new in-situ measurement technique for analyzing corrosion of the submicron level area in liquids was developed. In this technique, after topography is measured with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), the measurement mode is switched and electrochemical measurements such as cyclic voltammetry are conducted by using the STM probe as a working electrode. The distance between the probe and the material is separated up to the distance where the tunneling current does not flow. The valency, concentration, and species of dissolution ions from metal can be inferred according to potential and the current density of the reduction peak of a cyclic voltammogram. We report the corrosion behavior of copper minuteness wiring using the new technique.