The behavior and calibration of some piezoelectric ceramics used in the STM

The high resolution and displacement measurement in the scanning tunneling microscope are dependent upon the behavior of the piezoelectric ceramics used for moving the tip. In this paper certain characteristics and features of piezoelectric ceramics relevant to the desired precision are discussed. These characteristics are the relaxation aftereffects that follow the change of the applied electric field, and the temperature dependence of the piezoelectric response. The above effects have been analyzed in four commercial piezoelectric ceramics by the three-terminal capacitance measurement technique.