Assessment of the resolution of scanning tunneling microscope with a tip of a boron-doped diamond

The assessment of the resolution of scanning tunneling microscope when operated in the scanning mode has been made based on the analysis of the tunneling current on parameters of diamond tip-sample system. The scanning parameters and accuracy of supporting the constant tunneling current by the system of the instrument feedback, at which the presence of the atomic resolution is possible in the case of a single channel of tunneling, have been defined. An alternative (in respect to the best known publications) explanation of the hexagonal structure of the pyrolytic graphite surface observed with atomic resolution has been suggested. The problem of multichannel tunneling caused by the presence of several nanoprotrusions in the diamond probe test zone that initiate tunneling and impair the resolution of a scanning tunneling microscope is discussed.