Measuring voltage transients with an ultrafast scanning tunneling microscope

We use an ultrafast scanning tunneling microscope to resolve propagating voltage transients in space and time. We demonstrate that the previously observed dependence of the transient signal amplitude on the tunneling resistance was only caused by the electrical sampling circuit. With a modified circuit, where the tunneling tip is directly connected to the current amplifier of the scanning tunneling microscope, this dependence is eliminated. Ail results can be explained with coupling through the geometrical capacitance of the tip-electrode junction. By illuminating the current-gating photoconductive switch with a rigidly attached fiber, the probe is scanned without changing the probe characteristics. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.