Search results for "Scanning Probe Microscopy"

Photonic nanopatterns of gold nanostructures indicate the excitation of surface plasmon modes of a wavelength of 50-100 nm by scanning near-field opt…

2003

Scanning near-field optical microscopy images of metal nanostructures taken with the tetrahedral tip (T-tip) show a distribution of dark and bright spots at distances in the order of 25-50 nm. The images are interpreted as photonic nanopatterns defined as calculated scanning near-field optical microscopy images using a dipole serving as a light-emitting scanning near-field optical microscopy probe. Changing from a positive to a negative value of the dielectric function of a sample leads to the partition of one spot into several spots in the photonic nanopatterns, indicating the excitation of surface plasmons of a wavelength in the order of 50-100 nm in metal nanostructures.

Scanning probe microscopies applied to the study of the domain wall in a ferroelectric crystal.

2007

Summary Scanning near-field optical microscopy is capable of measuring the topography and optical signals at the same time. This fact makes this technique a valuable tool in the study of materials at nanometric scale and, in particular, of ferroelectric materials, as it permits the study of their domains structure without the need of chemical etching and, therefore, not damaging the surface (as will be demonstrated later). We have measured the scanning near-field optical microscopy transmission, as well as the topography, of an RbTiOPO4 single crystalline slab, which exhibits two different of macroscopic ferroelectric domains. A chemical selective etching has been performed to distinguish b…

Numerical simulations of photon scanning tunneling microscopy: role of a probe tip geometry in image formation

2005

Abstract Numerical simulations of two-dimensional probe–object system emulating a photon scanning tunnelling microscope are presented. R -matrix propagation algorithm incorporated into the differential method was used to achieve an extended capability to rigorously model a realistic system consisting of both a probe and a sample. Influence of the probe tip parameters on image formation in scanning near-field microscopy has been investigated. Coupling of the near-field to a single-mode probe and formation of a guided fundamental mode in a probe were investigated for various probe widths and lengths. The influence of the probe taper shape and apex size on near-field images was studied for sin…

Analysis of image formation with a photon scanning tunneling microscope

1996

International audience; The photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM) is based on the frustration of a total internal reflected beam by the end of an optical fiber. Until now it has been used to obtain topographic information, generally for smooth samples. We report theoretical as well as experimental results on the observation of a step on a quartz substrate with the PSTM. These results demonstrate the effects on image formation of the distance between the fiber tip and the sample surface, the orientation of the incident beam with respect to the step, the polarization, and the coherence of the light. Good agreement exists between numerical simulations and experiments. We show that a pert…

Visualization of Molecular Recognition Events on Microstructured Lipid-Membrane Compartments by In Situ Scanning Force Microscopy This work was suppo…

2002

Local Time-Dependent Charging in a Perovskite Solar Cell

2016

Efficient charge extraction within solar cells explicitly depends on the optimization of the internal interfaces. Potential barriers, unbalanced charge extraction, and interfacial trap states can prevent cells from reaching high power conversion efficiencies. In the case of perovskite solar cells, slow processes happening on time scales of seconds cause hysteresis in the current-voltage characteristics. In this work, we localized and investigated these slow processes using frequency-modulation Kelvin probe force microscopy (FM-KPFM) on cross sections of planar methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI) perovskite solar cells. FM-KPFM can map the charge density distribution and its dynamics at intern…

Grain size effect and local disorder in polycrystalline relaxors via scanning probe microscopy

2007

Local piezoresponse of individual grains in polycrystalline Pb0.9125La0.0975(Zr0.65Ti0.35)0.976O3 (PLZT 9.75/65/35) relaxor ceramics is studied using the scanning probe microscopy (SPM) technique. The observed piezoelectric contrast consisting of irregular (labyrinth-type) polarization patterns is attributed to the compositional disorder and consequent charge imbalance caused by high La concentration. A measure of this disorder, the polarization correlation length ξ, is directly determined using an autocorrelation analysis function implemented in the SPM software. The analysis of the obtained images shows that ξ taken at the scale ~200 nm varies as a function of the position inside the grai…

Revealing the correlation between real-space structure and chiral magnetic order at the atomic scale

2017

We image simultaneously the geometric, the electronic, and the magnetic structures of a buckled iron bilayer film that exhibits chiral magnetic order. We achieve this by combining spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy and magnetic exchange force microscopy (SPEX) to independently characterize the geometric as well as the electronic and magnetic structures of nonflat surfaces. This new SPEX imaging technique reveals the geometric height corrugation of the reconstruction lines resulting from strong strain relaxation in the bilayer, enabling the decomposition of the real-space from the electronic structure at the atomic level and the correlation with the resultant spin-spiral ground sta…

Solution and on-surface synthesis of structurally defined graphene nanoribbons as a new family of semiconductors.

2018

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with various structures and properties can be synthesized in solution or on surface.

Polycyclic aromatic chains on metals and insulating layers by repetitive [3+2] cycloadditions

2020

The vast potential of organic materials for electronic, optoelectronic and spintronic devices entails substantial interest in the fabrication of π-conjugated systems with tailored functionality directly at insulating interfaces. On-surface fabrication of such materials on non-metal surfaces remains to be demonstrated with high yield and selectivity. Here we present the synthesis of polyaromatic chains on metallic substrates, insulating layers, and in the solid state. Scanning probe microscopy shows the formation of azaullazine repeating units on Au(111), Ag(111), and h-BN/Cu(111), stemming from intermolecular homo-coupling via cycloaddition reactions of CN-substituted polycyclic aromatic az…