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Scanning Probe Micros

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Meeta Rajput
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13 views22 pages

Scanning Probe Micros

Uploaded by

Meeta Rajput
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM)

• Probing surface topography at nanoscale: 3D profile


• Atomic scale imaging with high-resolution
• First SPM: Scanning tunneling microscope (STM)
• IBM Lab Zurich
• Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer in 1982
• Nobel Prize in 1986
• And then: Atomic force microscopy (AFM)
• Gerd Binning, Calvin Quate, and Cristoph Gerber in 1986
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
• Electrical tunneling current
between a metal tip and
sample
• Resolution:
• vertical ~ 1 pm
• Lateral ~ 0.1 nm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanning_tunneling_microscope
STM
• Extremely sensitive
measurements
• Typical current 0.01-1 nA
• Ultra-high vacuum setup
• Vibration isolation
• Usually low temperatures
(liquid helium ~4 K)

https://tmi.utexas.edu/facilities/instrumentation/scanning-tunneling-microscopes
Graphene STM

Single Layer Graphene

Bilayer Graphene: Moiré Patterns


https://www.physik.uni-hamburg.de/en/inf/ag-wiesendanger/forschung/graphene.html
E. Cisternas et al., Chemical Physics, 409, 2012, 74-78
A. H. MacDonald, Nature, 474, 453–454 (2011)
Graphene/hBN/SiO2 Graphene/hBN

• Ultra-flat graphene on
hBN
• hBN: Atomically
smooth
Graphene/SiO2
• SiO2: Nanoscale
roughness

J. Xue et al., Nature Materials 10, 282–285 (2011)


https://waferpro.com/silicon-wafers/silicon-thermal-oxide-wafers/
Quantum Tunneling!

• Physical gap between tip and sample: barrier


• Equilibrium: 𝜇𝑡𝑖𝑝 = 𝜇𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 (Fermi level or electrochemical potential)
• Tunneling at a finite bias (Vt): 𝐼𝑡 ≅ 𝑓 𝑉𝑡 , 𝜑 𝑒 −𝜅𝑑
• Current depends on the distance, d

Fundamentals of Atomic Force Microscopy, Ronald Reifenberger, 2015


STM Scanning modes

Fundamentals of Atomic Force Microscopy, Ronald Reifenberger, 2015


STM tips

• Sharp tips requirement:


produced from thin metal
wires (~100 mm)
• Tip end should be typically
one or few atoms sharp
• Sharper tips: higher
resolution

B. Li et al., SN Appl. Sci. 2, 1246 (2020)


STM issues
• Need for atomically sharp tips
• Tunneling current:
• Dependency on wavefunction overlap
• Hard to separate information about topography and local density of
electronic states
• Need for a conductive surface to support tunnel current
• Most measurements done on atomically flat ultra-clean surfaces
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxqIS9FBYaA
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
• Surface force between sharp tip
and surface
• Measurements can be done on
insulating surfaces too
• Typical force ~ 10 nN
• Vertical resolution < 1 nm
(comparable to STM)
• Lateral resolution: depends on tip
sharpness

Encapsulation Technologies for Electronic Applications, Elsevier, 2018


AFM operation
• AFM tips attached to flexible
cantilevers
• Cantilever deflects by 𝑞 on
approaching surface
• Restoring force between tip and
surface: Hooke’s Law
• 𝐹 = −𝑘. 𝑞
• 𝑘: cantilever spring constant (N/m)
• 𝑞: cantilever deflection

Fundamentals of Atomic Force Microscopy, Ronald Reifenberger, 2015


AFM Operation

• Optical deflection scheme


• Laser light deflected onto a split photodiode
• Photodetector absorbs light and produces current/voltage: a
measure of deflection/height
https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/scanning-probe-microscopy-advanced-materials-and-processes
AFM Scanning modes

• Non-contact and intermittent contact modes: sinusoidal tip oscillations

Fundamentals of Atomic Force Microscopy, Ronald Reifenberger, 2015


Conductive AFM
• Perform current and
topography measurements
simultaneously
• Nanoscale conductivity
characterization
• Difference from regular AFM:
• Conductive probe tip
• Voltage source
• Amplifier

M.K. Anam et al., Sci Rep, 10, 14636 (2020)


Tip-sample interaction
• Tip-sample forces used for
imaging surfaces
• Cantilever bending:
• Upwards: repulsive forces
• Downwards: attractive forces
• Forces with distance:
• 100-1000 nm: Electrostatic
• 10-100 nm: Magnetic
• 0.1-10 nm: van der Waals
• 0.01-0.1 nm: Repulsive forces

A. Touhami, Atomic Force Microscopy, Springer Nature Switzerland 2020


van der Waals forces
• Forces due to fluctuations in the
electron clouds of atoms
• Attractive forces: 𝑉 ∝ 𝑟 −6
• Keesom: permanent dipoles
• Debye: dipole-induced dipole
• London: temporary dipoles
• Repulsive force: 𝑉 ∝ 𝑟 −12
• Electrostatic repulsion due to
orbital overlap 𝜎 12 𝜎 6
𝑉 𝑟 = 4𝜖 − 𝑑𝑉(𝑟)
• Pauli exclusion principle prevents 𝑟 𝑟 𝐹 𝑟 =−
𝑑𝑟
electrons from occupying the same Lennard-Jones potential
quantum states

https://glossary.periodni.com/glossary.php?en=Lennard-Jones%2Bpotential
Cantilevers and probes (tips)

• Chip: substrate to which cantilever beams with tips are


attached (a few millimeters in lateral dimensions)
• Tips: pyramid-shaped ~10 nm
Tip shape effect on imaging

• Convex features appear wider with blunt probes


• Concave features appear smaller with blunt probes

Atomic Force Microscopy, Peter Eaton and Paul West, Oxford University Press
E. E. Flater et al., Ultramicroscopy, 146, 2014, 130-143
AFM of MoS2

• SiO2 to 1st monolayer


~0.8 to 1 nm
• 1st to 2nd layer ~0.5-
0.7 nm

Hong Li et al., Adv. Funct. Mater. 2012, 22, 1385–1390


Surface roughness
• Surface roughness: random
deviation from normal
surface
• Nanoscale roughness:
impact on device
performance
• Electron mobilities in field-
effect transistors are
influenced by the nanoscale
roughness of the underlying
substrates
Surface roughness profiles

Atomic Force Microscopy, IntechOpen, Victor Bellitto, 2012


Surface Roughness: Graphene on hBN and SiO2

• hBN provides a much


smoother substrate
• Good for high-mobility
transistors!

C.R. Dean et al., Nature Nanotechnology 5, 722–726 (2010)


http://jarilloherrero.mit.edu/research/graphene-boron-nitride-heterostructures/
Conductive AFM of MoS2 grains

• Out of plane conduction


• Conductivity
enhancement on MoS2
layers compared to the
substrate

D. Ruzmetov et al., ACS Nano, 2016, 10, 3, 3580–3588

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