Measurement of electrostatic tip-sample interactions by time-domain Kelvin probe force microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Kelvin probe force microscopy is a scanning probe technique used to quantify the local electrostatic potential of a surface. In common implementations, the bias voltage between the tip and the sample is modulated. The resulting electrostatic force or force gradient is detected via lock-in techniques and canceled by adjusting the dc component of the tip-sample bias. This allows for an electrostatic characterization and simultaneously minimizes the electrostatic influence onto the topography measurement. However, a static contribution due to the bias modulation itself remains uncompensated, which can induce topographic height errors. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach to find the surface potential without lock-in detection. Our method operates directly on the frequency-shift signal

SUBMITTER: Ritz C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7308609 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature