Chemical Phenomena of Atomic Force Microscopy Scanning
Abstract
Atomic force microscopy is widely used for nanoscale characterization of materials by scientists worldwide. The long-held belief of ambient AFM is that the tip is generally chemically inert but can be functionalized with respect to the studied sample. This implies that basic imaging and scanning procedures do not affect surface and bulk chemistry of the studied sample. However, an in-depth study of the confined chemical processes taking place at the tip-surface junction and the associated chemical changes to the material surface have been missing as of now. Here, we used a hybrid system that combines time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry with an atomic force microscopy to investigate the chemical interactions that take place at the tip-surface junction. Investigations showed that even basic contact mode AFM scanning is able to modify the surface of the studied sample. In particular, we found that the silicone oils deposited from the AFM tip into the scanned regions and spread to distances exceeding 15 μm from the tip. These oils were determined to come from standard gel boxes used for the storage of the tips. The explored phenomena are important for interpreting and understanding results of AFM mechanical and electrical studies relying on the statemore »
- Authors:
-
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS), and Inst. for Functional Imaging of Materials
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Bredesen Center
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS)
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1426582
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1530343
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Analytical Chemistry
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 90; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-2700
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; atomic force microscopy; time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry; afm tips; chemical phenomena; silicone oil contamination
Citation Formats
Ievlev, Anton V., Brown, Chance, Burch, Matthew J., Agar, Joshua C., Velarde, Gabriel A., Martin, Lane W., Maksymovych, Petro, Kalinin, Sergei V., and Ovchinnikova, Olga S.. Chemical Phenomena of Atomic Force Microscopy Scanning. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.7b05225.
Ievlev, Anton V., Brown, Chance, Burch, Matthew J., Agar, Joshua C., Velarde, Gabriel A., Martin, Lane W., Maksymovych, Petro, Kalinin, Sergei V., & Ovchinnikova, Olga S.. Chemical Phenomena of Atomic Force Microscopy Scanning. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.7b05225
Ievlev, Anton V., Brown, Chance, Burch, Matthew J., Agar, Joshua C., Velarde, Gabriel A., Martin, Lane W., Maksymovych, Petro, Kalinin, Sergei V., and Ovchinnikova, Olga S.. Tue .
"Chemical Phenomena of Atomic Force Microscopy Scanning". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.7b05225. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1426582.
@article{osti_1426582,
title = {Chemical Phenomena of Atomic Force Microscopy Scanning},
author = {Ievlev, Anton V. and Brown, Chance and Burch, Matthew J. and Agar, Joshua C. and Velarde, Gabriel A. and Martin, Lane W. and Maksymovych, Petro and Kalinin, Sergei V. and Ovchinnikova, Olga S.},
abstractNote = {Atomic force microscopy is widely used for nanoscale characterization of materials by scientists worldwide. The long-held belief of ambient AFM is that the tip is generally chemically inert but can be functionalized with respect to the studied sample. This implies that basic imaging and scanning procedures do not affect surface and bulk chemistry of the studied sample. However, an in-depth study of the confined chemical processes taking place at the tip-surface junction and the associated chemical changes to the material surface have been missing as of now. Here, we used a hybrid system that combines time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry with an atomic force microscopy to investigate the chemical interactions that take place at the tip-surface junction. Investigations showed that even basic contact mode AFM scanning is able to modify the surface of the studied sample. In particular, we found that the silicone oils deposited from the AFM tip into the scanned regions and spread to distances exceeding 15 μm from the tip. These oils were determined to come from standard gel boxes used for the storage of the tips. The explored phenomena are important for interpreting and understanding results of AFM mechanical and electrical studies relying on the state of the tip-surface junction.},
doi = {10.1021/acs.analchem.7b05225},
journal = {Analytical Chemistry},
number = 5,
volume = 90,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {1}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

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Figures / Tables found in this record: