Selected Applications attoAFM I
PAGE 109 attoAFM I
Low Temperature Piezoresponse Force Microscopy on BiFeO
Piezoresponse Force Microscopy ( PFM ) is a standard tool at room temperature to investigate new materials , especially multiferroics . However in many cases the scientifically interesting phases only exist at low temperatures or high magnetic fields , what demands the extension of this technique to extreme conditions . In collaboration with our customers , we adapted our attoAFM based on the general purpose ASC500 for PFM measurements . In the measurements here we investigated BiFeO3 a well know room temperature multiferroic . The figure shows piezoresponse amplitude after a box in the box writing at 160 K on the sample .
( attocube application labs , 2013 ; Sample courtesy of Neus Domingo & Gustau Catalan , CIN2 Barcelona , Centre d ’ Investigació en Nanociència i Nanotecnologia , Bellaterra , Spain )
Conductive-Tip AFM Measurements on Ruthenium
In this application , atomic steps on Ruthenium were investigated using conductive-tip AFM . Atomic steps as well as spiral dislocations can be identified on the molecular beam epitaxy-grown sample . The contrast in this measurement is highly enhanced due to a difference in conductance between edges and flat plateaus . Such high contrast was not observed in the accompanying topographic image . A voltage of + 10 mV was applied to the standard Pt-coated AFM tip , while the sample was grounded via a current amplifier with gain 106 V / A . The measurement was performed at room temperature in a 20 mbar He atmosphere .
( Sample and measurement courtesy of V . Da Costa , J . -F . Dayen , B . Doudin , IPCMS-DMONS , CNRS / University of Strasbourg , France )
Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy of Au-on-Pt Pattern
The measurements shown here were performed on a test sample consisting of a Au layer on a Pt substrate in dual pass mode . The KPFM image was recorded during the second line with a lift height of about 50 nm . The color scale spans approximately 130 mV , and the image size is 11.9 µ m x 11.9 µ m .
We found a KPFM contrast of approx . 35 mV , and a KPFM resolution ( noise level ) of approx . 2.6 mV .
( attocube application labs 2014 ) attoMICROSCOPY
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