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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 104: Poster Session VIII: Scanning probe techniques: Method development III

O 104.3: Poster

Thursday, March 4, 2021, 13:30–15:30, P

Optimising conditions for high resolution SPM at room temperature — •Timothy Brown, Phil Blowey, and Adam Sweetman — University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

Non-contact atomic force microscopy has yielded enormous progress in the established field of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with its ability to characterise materials at the atomic scale, and study chemical structures of individual molecules. Long acquisition times are typically required for system stability, which is often accomplished by operating at cryogenic temperatures. However if high resolution characterisation of species at room temperature is required, thermal non-equilibrium between the tip and sample poses a limit on acquisition time. Atom tracking can counteract the effects of thermal drift between the tip and sample. Measuring the displacement, and subsequent compensation thereof, using a feedforward correction, can be used as a means to correct the drift, a technique pioneered by Abe. et. al (2007). The net drift is liable to change continuously due to the surroundings, thus diminishing the accuracy of the applied correction. We describe a protocol, similar to that of Rahe. et. al (2011), by which the temperature in a ultra-high vacuum scanning tunnelling / atomic force microscope is stabilised at room level using a tuned feedback circuit, such that atom tracking, can be continuously used in order to take scripted, dense 3D data sets, even at room temperature.

References:

1. Abe, M. et al. Applied Physics Letters. 90, 203103 (2007).

2. Rahe, P. et al. Review of Scientific Instruments 82, 063704 (2011).