A theory is presented for vacuum tunneling between a real solid surface and a model probe with a locally spherical tip, applicable to the recently developed "scanning tunneling microscope." Calculations for 2×1 and 3×1 reconstructions of Au(110) are in excellent agreement with recent experimental results, if an effective radius of curvature of 9 Å is assumed for the tip.

• Received 17 March 1983

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.50.1998

This article appears in the following collection:

Scanning Probe Microscopy: From Sublime to Ubiquitous

This collection marks the 35th anniversary of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and the 30th anniversary of atomic force microscopy (AFM). These papers, all published in the Physical Review journals, highlight the positive impact that STM and AFM have had, and continue to have, on physical science research. The papers included in the collection have been made free to read.