Artifacts in time-resolved Kelvin probe force microscopy

Sadewasser, Sascha; Nicoara, Nicoleta; Solares, Santiago D.

doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.119

Title: Artifacts in time-resolved Kelvin probe force microscopy

Journal Article · Tue Apr 24 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.9.119· OSTI ID:1434250

Sadewasser, Sascha ^[1]; Nicoara, Nicoleta ^[1]; Solares, Santiago D. ^[2]

International Iberian Nanotechnology Lab., Braga (Portugal)
The George Washington Univ., Washington, D.C. (United States)

Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) has been used for the characterization of metals, insulators, and semiconducting materials on the nanometer scale. Especially in semiconductors, the charge dynamics are of high interest. Recently, several techniques for time-resolved measurements with time resolution down to picoseconds have been developed, many times using a modulated excitation signal, e.g. light modulation or bias modulation that induces changes in the charge carrier distribution. For fast modulation frequencies, the KPFM controller measures an average surface potential, which contains information about the involved charge carrier dynamics. Here, we show that such measurements are prone to artifacts due to frequency mixing, by performing numerical dynamics simulations of the cantilever oscillation in KPFM subjected to a bias-modulated signal. For square bias pulses, the resulting time-dependent electrostatic forces are very complex and result in intricate mixing of frequencies that may, in some cases, have a component at the detection frequency, leading to falsified KPFM measurements. Additionally, we performed fast Fourier transform (FFT) analyses that match the results of the numerical dynamics simulations. Small differences are observed that can be attributed to transients and higher-order Fourier components, as a consequence of the intricate nature of the cantilever driving forces. These results are corroborated by experimental measurements on a model system. In the experimental case, additional artifacts are observed due to constructive or destructive interference of the bias modulation with the cantilever oscillation. Also, in the case of light modulation, we demonstrate artifacts due to unwanted illumination of the photodetector of the beam deflection detection system. Lastly, guidelines for avoiding such artifacts are given.

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Research Organization:: George Washington Univ., Washington, DC (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Contributing Organization:: International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0018041

OSTI ID:: 1434250

Journal Information:: Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, Vol. 9; ISSN 2190-4286

Publisher:: Beilstein InstituteCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 10 works

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