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Evaluation of the electrical contact area in contact-mode scanning probe microscopy.
- Source :
-
Journal of Applied Physics . 6/7/2015, Vol. 117 Issue 21, p214305-1-214305-5. 5p. 1 Diagram, 3 Graphs. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- The tunneling current through an atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip is used to evaluate the effective electrical contact area, which exists between tip and sample in contact-AFM electrical measurements. A simple procedure for the evaluation of the effective electrical contact area is described using conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) in combination with a thin dielectric. We characterize the electrical contact area for coated metal and doped-diamond tips operated at low force (<200 nN) in contact mode. In both cases, we observe that only a small fraction (<10 nm2) of the physical contact (~100 nm2) is effectively contributing to the transport phenomena. Assuming this reduced area is confined to the central area of the physical contact, these results explain the sub-10 nm electrical resolution observed in C-AFM measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00218979
- Volume :
- 117
- Issue :
- 21
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Applied Physics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 103090914
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4921878