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Two STM investigations are presented, in which irregular tip conditions enable direct access to chemical and structural information of the surface on an atomic scale, otherwise invisible for the STM. They allow a study of surface ordering of a Pt25Ni75(111) crystal by a chemical contrast between the alloy components, and a study of carbon superstructures on a Pt10Ni90(100) surface by simultaneous imaging of substrate lattice and carbon atoms. All these images were obtained at very low tunneling resistances and thus at small tip-sample distances. A chemical interaction between the probably adsorbate covered tip and the sample is proposed to explain these images.
Corresponding author: M. Schmid (schmid).