The influence of a Si cantilever tip with/without tungsten coating on noncontact atomic force microscopy imaging of a Ge(001) surface
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説明
A sharp probe tip with atomic scale stability is essential and desirable for noncontact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) studies at the atomic scale. We observed a Ge(001) surface using both a Si cantilever and a tungsten coated Si cantilever at room temperature in order to investigate the influence of the tip apex structure on the NC-AFM images. By using the Si cantilever, we first obtained four types of image at the atomic scale which can be explained assuming a dimer structure on the tip apex. On the other hand, the home-made tungsten coated tip, which has atomic scale stability and high electric conductivity, imaged the so-called ordered c(4 x 2) structure without any artifacts. The tungsten coated cantilever was found to have significantly higher performance for NC-AFM studies at the atomic scale than the Si cantilever.
収録刊行物
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- Nanotechnology
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Nanotechnology 20 (26), 264011-, 2009-06-10
IOP Publishing