Probing local bias-induced transitions using photothermal excitation contact resonance atomic force microscopy and voltage spectroscopy
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS)
- University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin (Ireland). School of Physics.
- Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Laboratory for Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics.
In this paper, nanomechanical properties are closely related to the states of matter, including chemical composition, crystal structure, mesoscopic domain configuration, etc. Investigation of these properties at the nanoscale requires not only static imaging methods, e.g., contact resonance atomic force microscopy (CR-AFM), but also spectroscopic methods capable of revealing their dependence on various external stimuli. Here we demonstrate the voltage spectroscopy of CR-AFM, which was realized by combining photothermal excitation (as opposed to the conventional piezoacoustic excitation method) with the band excitation technique. We applied this spectroscopy to explore local bias-induced phenomena ranging from purely physical to surface electromechanical and electrochemical processes. Our measurements show that the changes in the surface properties associated with these bias-induced transitions can be accurately assessed in a fast and dynamic manner, using resonance frequency as a signature. Finally, with many of the advantages offered by photothermal excitation, contact resonance voltage spectroscopy not only is expected to find applications in a broader field of nanoscience but also will provide a basis for future development of other nanoscale elastic spectroscopies.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1265373
- Journal Information:
- ACS Nano, Vol. 9, Issue 2; ISSN 1936-0851
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Similar Records
Physical mechanisms of megahertz vibrations and nonlinear detection in ultrasonic force and related microscopies
Contact resonance atomic force microscopy imaging in air and water using photothermal excitation