Microscopy beyond imaging

Abstract

In condensed matter physics, resolving the crystal structures and the electronic properties of a solid provides the stepping stones to understanding the fundamental physics at the microscopic level underlying the interesting phenomena. Integrating the microscopy, especially the atomically resolved ones, with the spectroscopy thus plays an irreplaceable role in modern experimental research. It combines the distinguished characteristics of microscopy and spectroscopy to provide the electronic, magnetic, and spatial information in one measurement. This helps the detailed understanding of complex materials in correlation between the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties within nanometers, and offers unique advantages as compared to traditional microscopy techniques. In this talk I will introduce two such techniques, based on our previous works, to show how the integration helps us to gain the deeper insight on the materials. The new synthesized surface alloy for the potential topological structures, thickness determination of the epitaxial graphene, and water reaction on the semiconductor surface will be discussed in the presentation.