Localized Electroless Ag Plating at a Tip Apex for Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy

A typical probe for scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) consists of an atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe with a metallic coating. Such probes result in a large sensing area and lead to poor spatial resolution due to the stray-field effect. With electroless Ag plating (EAP), we employed an AFM...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 2013-06, Vol.52 (6), p.06GF03-06GF03-4
Main Authors: Lin, Chun-Ting, Yu, Ming-Han, Su, James, Chen, Po-Li, Shiao, Ming-Hua, Nemcsics, Akos, Chang, Mao-Nan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apexes
Atomic force microscopy
Detection
Electroless plating
Microscopy
Scanning
Silver
Spatial resolution
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Summary:A typical probe for scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) consists of an atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe with a metallic coating. Such probes result in a large sensing area and lead to poor spatial resolution due to the stray-field effect. With electroless Ag plating (EAP), we employed an AFM system to form a Ag nanodot (AND) at the apex of the probe tip, which reduces the sensing area of the SKPM probe, thereby suppressing the stray-field effect. It was revealed that the tip with an AND structure had improved the spatial resolution in SKPM. Our experimental results showed that the EAP process can be completed in a few seconds, implying that localized EAP is a simple and rapid process for preparing an AND structure at the tip apex in SKPM measurements.
ISSN:0021-4922
1347-4065
DOI:10.7567/JJAP.52.06GF03