The sounds of nanoscience: Acoustic STM analogues

A hands-on model of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) is presented. It uses near-field imaging with sound and computer assisted visualization to create acoustic mappings of resonator arrangements. Due to the (partial) analogy of matter and sound waves the images closely resemble STM scans of atoms. Moreover, the method can be extended to build an acoustic analogue of a quantum corral. The acoustic models foster reflections about the nature of STM images and elucidate the productive tension of imaging and imagining matter at the nanoscale.