Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 3: Methods: Scanning probe techniques I

O 3.2: Talk

Monday, March 22, 2010, 11:30–11:45, H32

SubSurface AFM: towards nondestructive 3D microscopy — •Gerard J. Verbiest, Johannes Simon, and Marcel J. Rost — Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

True nondestructive, subsurface microscopy is desired in many fields ranging from material science over biology to industry. The variety of possible applications include, e.g., microelectronics failure analysis or biological processes within cells. The key to 3D information is the use of nondestructive, ultrasonic acoustic waves, which lead to an interference pattern at the sample surface, that is measured locally with an AFM. This has been demonstrated experimentally [1].

In order to receive insights in the physical contrast mechanism and to design the most suited AFM, we are both developing an analytical model and performing finite element analysis calculations to understand the experimentally determined acoustic wave propagation in artificially created samples. We address questions like: what causes the (surface) contrast; what is the ultimate achievable resolution; and how to extract depth information?

[1] G.S. Shekhawat and V.P. Dravid; Science 310, 89 (2005) 5745