| Abstract: | The design and the performance of a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) is described. The sample and the STM are cooled by means of a helium bath cryostate. The STM consists of a “beetle”-type microscope, which is mounted on a spring suspension stage that can be operated between room temperature and 30 K. We present the results of tunneling spectroscopy on ligand-stabilized Au55-clusters on a thiol-covered gold substrate. I(V)-curves taken at 100 K clearly show coulomb staircase structures, which agree well with theoretical predictions for these structures. |
