In the 1982 experiment, separate drives using piezoelectricity scanned a metal tip laterally and adjusted its height. A control unit held electric current fixed at constant tip-sample electric potential difference; calibrated drive voltages supplied the displacement readout. Their Fig. 1 explicitly contrasts a surface step with apparent height from contamination changing the work function.[ref]
Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer describe a later vibration isolation system using two spring stages and eddy current damping inside a vacuum chamber, with sputtering and annealing for surface preparation. These measures addressed unwanted motion and surface condition separately.[ref]
Figure 1.
How a scanning tunneling microscope turns current feedback into an image
. Original functional schematic of constant-current scanning tunneling microscopy. The loop retracts the tip when measured electric current exceeds its target. Recorded includes electronic contrast in scanning tunneling microscopy; the diagram is not to scale. Details.

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