Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is the highest resolution imaging and nanofabrication technique available. It relies on quantum tunneling of electrons from a sharp metal tip to a conducting surface. The 71 Angstrom diameter "quantum corral" shown above was created and imaged with an ultra-high vacuum cryogenic STM. Each sharp peak in the circle is an iron atom resting on atomically flat copper. Learn more about it here or here, and check out some other pretty pictures here. Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer won the Nobel Prize in 1986 for the invention of the STM. Read Binnig's candid autobiography and his Nobel lecture.
Mon Oct 13: We will start on Chapter 3 on Wed. Oliver forgot to mention to begin reading this, I would suggestion 3.1 and 3.2 to get started.
Wed Oct 8: Exams are graded, histogram and general comments available here. Your grades (and exam solutions) are available on CU Learn) Please let us know right away if there's any discrepancy or problem so we can fix it!
Sat Oct 4: I added a couple of new pages of notes for the last part of Chapter 2, on free particle/momentum space, see the "lecture notes" link to download them.
Sat Sep 27 Most people who filled in the participation survey had a question. Here I tried to answer all of them! (Also see our "virtual office hours" link)
Sat Sep 27 : Midterms will be in our regular classroom, G2B47. They are Thursday October 2 and Thursday November 13, both from 7:15pm-9:15pm. See here for more information.
Sat Sep 27: If you want some sample Mathematica notebooks or guides to learn Mathematica better, see our "useful and interesting links" page (always available in the left-hand frame, or directly here. )
Friday Sep 19: Have you tried the PhET simulations ? The PhETs are interactive demo programs that run on your computer, illustrating some aspect of physics. Check out the Quantum Bound States PhET. You can choose from several different potentials - give "Harmonic Oscillator" a try. You can see the energy levels, and plot the stationary state wavefunctions and probability densities. There's a button to make a combination of stationary states, and you can watch it evolve in real time. Or try the square well potential, and play with the height and width of the well and watch the energy levels change. The PhETs require Java.
We welcome your comments on the class and this website.
Send them to steven.pollock at colorado.edu
or oliver.dewolfe at colorado.edu
