59 research outputs found
Direct Measurement of Periodic Electric Forces in Liquids
The electric forces acting on an atomic force microscope tip in solution have
been measured using a microelectrochemical cell formed by two periodically
biased electrodes. The forces were measured as a function of lift height and
bias amplitude and frequency, providing insight into electrostatic interactions
in liquids. Real-space mapping of the vertical and lateral components of
electrostatic forces acting on the tip from the deflection and torsion of the
cantilever is demonstrated. This method enables direct probing of electrostatic
and convective forces involved in electrophoretic and dielectroforetic
self-assembly and electrical tweezer operation in liquid environments
The Band Excitation Method in Scanning Probe Microscopy for Rapid Mapping of Energy Dissipation on the Nanoscale
Mapping energy transformation pathways and dissipation on the nanoscale and
understanding the role of local structure on dissipative behavior is a
challenge for imaging in areas ranging from electronics and information
technologies to efficient energy production. Here we develop a novel Scanning
Probe Microscopy (SPM) technique in which the cantilever is excited and the
response is recorded over a band of frequencies simultaneously rather than at a
single frequency as in conventional SPMs. This band excitation (BE) SPM allows
very rapid acquisition of the full frequency response at each point (i.e.
transfer function) in an image and in particular enables the direct measurement
of energy dissipation through the determination of the Q-factor of the
cantilever-sample system. The BE method is demonstrated for force-distance and
voltage spectroscopies and for magnetic dissipation imaging with sensitivity
close to the thermomechanical limit. The applicability of BE for various SPMs
is analyzed, and the method is expected to be universally applicable to all
ambient and liquid SPMs.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Nanotechnolog
Fabrication, Dynamics, and Electrical Properties of Insulated SPM Probes for Electrical and Electromechanical Imaging in Liquids
Insulated cantilever probes with a high aspect ratio conducting apex have
been fabricated and their dynamic and electrical properties analyzed. The
cantilevers were coated with silicon dioxide and a via was fabricated through
the oxide at the tip apex and backfilled with tungsten to create an insulated
probe with a conducting tip. The stiffness and Q-factor of the cantilevers
increased after the modifications and their resonances shifted to higher
frequencies. The coupling strength between the cantilever and the coating are
determined. The applications to conductive and electromechanical imaging of
ferroelectric domains are illustrated, and a probe apex repair process is
demonstrated.Comment: 3 fig
Theory-assisted determination of nano-rippling and impurities in atomic resolution images of angle-mismatched bilayer graphene
Ripples and impurity atoms are universally present in 2D materials, limiting carrier mobility, creating pseudo–magnetic fields, or affecting the electronic and magnetic properties. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) generally provides picometer-level precision in the determination of the location of atoms or atomic 'columns' in the in-image plane (xy plane). However, precise atomic positions in the z-direction as well as the presence of certain impurities are difficult to detect. Furthermore, images containing moiré patterns such as those in angle-mismatched bilayer graphene compound the problem by limiting the determination of atomic positions in the xy plane. Here, we introduce a reconstructive approach for the analysis of STEM images of twisted bilayers that combines the accessible xy coordinates of atomic positions in a STEM image with density-functional-theory calculations. The approach allows us to determine all three coordinates of all atomic positions in the bilayer and establishes the presence and identity of impurities. The deduced strain-induced rippling in a twisted bilayer graphene sample is consistent with the continuum model of elasticity. We also find that the moiré pattern induces undulations in the z direction that are approximately an order of magnitude smaller than the strain-induced rippling. A single substitutional impurity, identified as nitrogen, is detected. The present reconstructive approach can, therefore, distinguish between moiré and strain-induced effects and allows for the full reconstruction of 3D positions and atomic identities
Electronic Transport Imaging in a Multiwire SnO2 ChemFET Device
The electronic transport and the sensing performance of an individual SnO2
crossed nanowires device in a three-terminal field effect configuration were
investigated using a combination of macroscopic transport measurements and
Scanning Surface Potential Microscopy (SSPM). The structure of the device was
determined using both Scanning Electron- and Atomic Force Microscopy data. The
SSPM images of two crossed 1D nanostructures, simulating a prototypical
nanowire network sensors, exhibit large dc potential drops at the crossed-wire
junction and at the contacts, identifying them as the primary electroactive
elements in the circuit. The gas sensitivity of this device was comparable to
those of sensors formed by individual homogeneous nanostructures of similar
dimensions. Under ambient conditions, the DC transport measurements were found
to be strongly affected by field-induced surface charges on the nanostructure
and the gate oxide. These charges result in a memory effect in transport
measurements and charge dynamics which are visualized by SSPM. Finally,
scanning probe microscopy is used to measure the current-voltage
characteristics of individual active circuit elements, paving the way to a
detailed understanding of chemical functionality at the level of an individual
electroactive element in an individual nanowire.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures, accepted to J. Appl. Phy
Phase transitions in two dimensions - the case of Sn adsorbed on Ge(111) surfaces
Accurate atomic coordinates of the room-temperature (root3xroot3)R30degree
and low-temperature (3x3) phases of 1/3 ML Sn on Ge(111) have been established
by grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation. The Sn atoms
are located solely at T4-sites in the (root3xroot3)R30degree structure. In the
low temperature phase one of the three Sn atoms per (3x3) unit cell is
displaced outwards by 0.26 +/- 0.04 A relative to the other two. This
displacement is accompanied by an increase in the first to second double-layer
spacing in the Ge substrate.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages including 2 figure
Dynamic Behavior in Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
Frequency dependent dynamic behavior in Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM)
implemented on a beam-deflection atomic force microscope (AFM) is analyzed
using a combination of modeling and experimental measurements. The PFM signal
comprises contributions from local electrostatic forces acting on the tip,
distributed forces acting on the cantilever, and three components of the
electromechanical response vector. These interactions result in the bending and
torsion of the cantilever, detected as vertical and lateral PFM signals. The
relative magnitudes of these contributions depend on geometric parameters of
the system, the stiffness and frictional forces of tip-surface junction, and
operation frequencies. The dynamic signal formation mechanism in PFM is
analyzed and conditions for optimal PFM imaging are formulated. The
experimental approach for probing cantilever dynamics using frequency-bias
spectroscopy and deconvolution of electromechanical and electrostatic contrast
is implemented.Comment: 65 pages, 15 figures, high quality version available upon reques
Nanoelectromechanics of Polarization Switching in Piezoresponse Force Microscopy
Nanoscale polarization switching in ferroelectric materials by Piezoresponse
Force Microscopy (PFM) in weak and strong indentation limits is analyzed using
exact solutions for electrostatic and coupled electroelastic fields below the
tip. It is proposed that the tip-induced domain switching can be mapped on the
Landau theory of phase transitions with the domain size as an order parameter.
For a point charge interacting with a ferroelectric surface, switching of both
first and second order is possible depending on the charge-surface separation.
For a realistic tip shape, the domain nucleation process is first order in
charge magnitude and polarization switching occurs only above a critical tip
bias. In pure ferroelectric or ferroelastic switching, the late stages of the
switching process can be described using point charge/force model and
arbitrarily large domains can be created; however, the description of the early
stages of nucleation process when domain size is comparable with the tip radius
of curvature requires exact field structure to be taken into account.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, expanded version of paper submitted to PR
Determination of the (3x3)-Sn/Ge(111) structure by photoelectron diffraction
At a coverage of about 1/3 monolayer, Sn deposited on Ge(111) below 550 forms
a metastable (sqrt3 x sqrt3)R30 phase. This phase continuously and reversibly
transforms into a (3x3) one, upon cooling below 200 K. The photoemission
spectra of the Sn 4d electrons from the (3x3)-Sn/Ge(111) surface present two
components which are attributed to inequivalent Sn atoms in T4 bonding sites.
This structure has been explored by photoelectron diffraction experiments
performed at the ALOISA beamline of the Elettra storage ring in Trieste
(Italy). The modulation of the intensities of the two Sn components, caused by
the backscattering of the underneath Ge atoms, has been measured as a function
of the emission angle at fixed kinetic energies and viceversa. The bond angle
between Sn and its nearest neighbour atoms in the first Ge layer (Sn-Ge1) has
been measured by taking polar scans along the main symmetry directions and it
was found almost equivalent for the two components. The corresponding bond
lengths are also quite similar, as obtained by studying the dependence on the
photoelectron kinetic energy, while keeping the photon polarization and the
collection direction parallel to the Sn-Ge1 bond orientation (bond emission). A
clear difference between the two bonding sites is observed when studying the
energy dependence at normal emission, where the sensitivity to the Sn height
above the Ge atom in the second layer is enhanced. This vertical distance is
found to be 0.3 Angstroms larger for one Sn atom out of the three contained in
the lattice unit cell. The (3x3)-Sn/Ge(111) is thus characterized by a
structure where the Sn atom and its three nearest neighbour Ge atoms form a
rather rigid unit that presents a strong vertical distortion with respect to
the underneath atom of the second Ge layer.Comment: 10 pages with 9 figures, added reference
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