Tunneling Calculation in the Field Ion Microscope

Abstract

In this work we describe calculations of tunneling rate constants for the Field Ion Microscope (FIM) using one-dimensional model potential that simulates the ionization process in a FIM. We obtain expressions for the ionization rate constant (ionization probability per unit of time) of inert gas atoms as a function of their position above the surface. In order to calculate the probability of barrier penetration we have used the semiclassical (JWKB) approximation. We have also calculated ionization zone widths as the distance between points where ionization rate is a maximum and half of this value. An application to helium as the imaging gas is presented to highlight the power of the method.