Tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) combined with highly stable scanning tunneling microscopy is a powerful tool to obtain local chemical information at surfaces with exceptional high spatial resolution. Here, we investigate the evolution of TERS at Angstrom-scale distances between tip and surface up to the point where tip apex touches the surface. A stable atomic point contact is reversibly formed in the junction between our plasmonic Ag tip and ultrathin ZnO films on a Ag(111) surface. A dramatic [more...]

The Award Committee of the Japan Society of Vacuum and Surface Science (JVSS) has selected Dr. Takashi Kumagai (Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Germany) as the Rising Medalist of The Heinrich Rohrer Medal for the his achievements to combine plasmonic near-field physics with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The prize will be awarded in a ceremony at the International Symposium on Surface Science(ISSSS-9) in November 2020, Takamatsu, Japan.
The work by Takashi Kumagai [more...]