Scanning tunneling microscopic and scanning tunneling spectroscopic studies of nanostructure and surface energy properties of stainless steel Kh18N10T. 1. Measurements at interfaces with air and 0.01 N HCl solution

Abstract

Stainless steel #Kh18N10T is studied by electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ESTM) and electrochemical scanning tunneling spectroscopy (ESCS) methods at the interface with air and for the fixed sample and probe potentials in 0.1 N HCl. Local spectral dependences of tunneling current on the tunneling voltage ( I t , U t ) are studied in either air or solution in the vicinity of potentials corresponding to stable properties. The local tunneling conductivity ( G O ), the coefficient of the probability of tunneling transfer of an electron to the tip ( α ), and the logarithmic-dependence slope ( β = U t / ln ( I t ) are calculated. As for Fe-Cr alloys, it is shown that at the atomic level, the local energy properties of a steel #Kh18N10T are determined by the mutual effect of neighboring atoms (the matrix effect).