Scanning Probe Microscopy

Lecture Delivered by Dr. Ashish

 Microscopy

Optical Electron Scanning Probe

 uses visible light and  uses a particle beam  forms images of surfaces
system of lenses to of electrons to using a physical probe that
magnify illuminate a scans the specimen
specimen
 oldest and simplest  surface image produced by
design  create a highly- mechanically moving probe
magnified image in a raster scan of the
 new digital
 uses electrostatic specimen and recording
microscopes use
probe-surface interaction
CCD camera and electromagnetic
lenses as a function of position
 magnification up to
 atomic resolution
2000 times  magnification up to
2 million times  was founded in 1981
 SPM Types
 AFM, atomic force microscope
 BEEM, ballistic electron emission microscope
 EFM, electrostatic foce microscope
 ESTM, electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope
 FMM, force modulation microscope
 KPFM, kelvin probe force microscope
 MFM, magnetic force microscope
 MRFM, magnetic resonance force microscope
 NSOM, Near-Field scanning optical microscope (or SNOM, scanning near-field optical
microscopy)
 PFM, Piezo Force Microscopy
 PSTM, photon sanning tunneling microscope
 PTMS, photothermal microspectroscopy/microscope
 SAP, scanning atom probe
 SECM, scanning electrochemical microscope
 SCM, scanning capacitance microscope
 SGM, scanning gate microscope
 SICM, scanning ion-conductance microscope
 SPSM, spin polarized tunneling microscope
 SThM, scanning thermal microscope
 STM, scanning tunneling microscope
 SVM, scanning voltage microscope
 SHPM, scanning Hall probe microscope
Quantum Mechanics:
The Tunnel Effect
 Scanning tunneling microscope - STM
• powerful technique for viewing surfaces at the atomic level
• invented in 1981 by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer (at IBM
Zürich)
• Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986
• probes the density of states of a material using tunneling current
• good resolution is considered to be 0.1 nm lateral resolution and
0.01 nm depth resolution
• can be used not only in ultra high vacuum but also in air and
various other liquid or gas ambients, and at temperatures ranging
from near zero kelvin to a few hundred degrees Celsius
• based on the concept of quantum tunneling
Surface of Au: atoms are visible!
Atoms and Molecules at Surfaces

4.2 Kelvin

Co atoms on a Copper surface

N. Knorr, A. Schneider
Dept. Prof. Kern, MPI Stuttgart, Germany
Moving Things Around
Fe atoms on Cu (111)

IBM Almaden , D. Eigler

Fe atoms on Cu (111)

IBM Almaden , D. Eigler

Xe / Ni(110)
D. Eigler & E. Schweizer,
Nature 344, 524 (1990)
 Atomic Force Microscope
AFM

• very high-resolution type of SPM

• resolution of fractions of a nanometer - 1000 times better
than the optical diffraction limit
• STM precursor to the AFM
• Binnig, Ouate and Gerber invented the first AFM in 1986
• one of the foremost tools for imaging, measuring and
manipulating matter at the nanoscale
• information is gathered by "feeling" the surface with a
mechanical probe
• Piezoelectric elements facilitate tiny but accurate and precise
movements enable the very precise scanning
 Cantilevers and
their properties
• Typically made of
SixNy

• Spring constants
in the range of 1 - 40 N/m
(Forces from 0,1nN – 20 µN)

• Tips range from a pyramid to very

sharp, high aspect ratio tips, to
flat punches.

J. E. Sader, Review of Scientific Instruments -- April 2003 -- Volume 74, Issue 4, pp. 2438-
2443
 Basic principle
• cantilever with a sharp tip (probe) is used to scan the specimen surface
• tip is brought into proximity of a sample surface -> forces between tip and sample lead to a
deflection of the cantilever according to Hooke’s law
• forces measured in AFM include mechanical contact force, Van der Waals forces, capillar forces,
chemical bonding, electrostatic forces, magnetic forces, Casimir forces, solvation forces etc…
• deflection is measured using a laser spot reflected from the top surface of the cantilever into an
array of photodiodes
• if tip was scanned at a constant height -> risk that the tip collides with the surface -> damage ->
feedback mechanism adjusts the tip-to-sample distance to maintain a constant force between
tip and sample
• sample is mounted on a piezoelectric tube which moves it z direction for maintaining a constant
force, and x and y for scanning
• AFM can be operated in a number of modes, depending on the application
• possible imaging modes are divided into static (also called Contact) modes and dynamic
(or non-contact) modes where the cantilever vibrates
• AFM can be used to image and manipulate atoms and structures on surfaces
Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
Laser Beam Deflection
Laser Beam Deflection
 Imaging modes
Static mode

• the static tip deflection is used as a feedback signal

• measurement of a static signal is prone to noise and drift -
> low stiffness cantilevers used to boost the deflection
signal
• close to the surface of the sample, attractive forces can be
quite strong -> tip 'snaps-in' to the surface
• static mode AFM is almost always done in contact where
overall force is repulsive
• technique called 'contact mode‘
• force between the tip and the surface is kept constant
during scanning by maintaining a constant deflection
 Imaging modes -Dynamic mode
• tip of the cantilever does not contact the sample surface
• cantilever is oscillated at a frequency slightly above its resonance frequency
(amplitude ~ few nanometers (<10nm))
• van der Waals forces (strongest from 1nm to 10nm above surface)
• or other long range force which extends above the surface acts to
• decrease the resonance frequency of the cantilever
• decrease in resonance frequency combined with feedback loop system
maintains a constant oscillation amplitude or frequency by adjusting the
average tip-to-sample distance
• Measuring tip-to-sample distance at each (x,y) data point allows software
to construct topographic image of sample surface
• AFM does not suffer from tip or sample degradation effects
• non-contact AFM preferable to contact AFM for measuring soft samples
• in case of rigid samples, contact and non-contact images may look the
same
 Advantages and disadvantages
• AFM provides a true 3D surface profile
• samples viewed by AFM do not require special treatments
• Most AFM modes work perfectly well in ambient air or even a liquid
• Study of biological macromolecules and even living organisms
• gives true atomic resolution in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and liquid environments
• high resolution AFM is comparable in resolution to STM and TEM

• disadvantage of AFM is image size (maximum height in mm and maximum scanning area
around 150 by 150 mm)
• incorrect choice of tip for required resolution can lead to image artifacts
• relatively slow rate of scanning during AFM imaging often leads to thermal drift in the image
• AFM images can be affected by hysteresis of the piezoelectric material and cross-talk
between the (x,y,z) axes ->may require software enhancement and filtering
• filtering could "flatten" out real topographical features
• AFM probes cannot measure steep walls or overhangs
 SPM Advantages

• resolution not limited by diffraction, but only by the size of the

probe-sample interaction volume ( few picometers)
• ability to measure small local differences in object height (like that
of 135 picometre steps on <100> silicon)
• probe-sample interaction extends only across the tip atom or atoms
involved in the interaction
• interaction can be used to modify the sample to create small
structures (nanolithography)
• do not require a partial vacuum but can be observed in air at
standard temperature and pressure or while submerged in a liquid
reaction vessel.
 SPM Disadvantages
• detailed shape of the scanning tip difficult to determine (effect
particularly noticeable if the specimen varies greatly in height
over lateral distances of 10 nm or less)
• generally slower in acquiring images due to the scanning process
• embedding of spatial information into a time sequence leads to
uncertainties in metrology (lateral spacings and angles) which
arise due to time-domain effects like specimen drift, feedback
loop oscillation, and mechanical vibration
• The maximum image size is generally smaller
• not useful for examining buried solid-solid or liquid-liquid
interfaces