Kelvin probe force microscopy of nanocrystalline TiO₂ photoelectrodes

• Alex Henning,
• Gino Günzburger,
• Res Jöhr,
• Yossi Rosenwaks,
• Biljana Bozic-Weber,
• Catherine E. Housecroft,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 418–428, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.49

• . Although the nanocrystalline TiO2 photoelectrode of a DSC consists of sintered nanoparticles, there are few studies on the nanoscale properties. We focus on the microscopic work function and surface photovoltage (SPV) determination of TiO2 photoelectrodes using Kelvin probe force microscopy in combination

• built-in potential on the DSC performance at the TiO2/SnO2:F interface, investigated on a nanometer scale by KPFM measurements under visible light illumination, has not been resolved so far. Keywords: atomic force microscopy (AFM); dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC); Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM

• select surface treatments that are beneficial for the DSC performance. In order to achieve a nanometer scale resolution, SPV spectroscopy can be combined with Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) [30][31][32], an atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique that was introduced in 1991 [33]. KPFM is a surface

The memory effect of nanoscale memristors investigated by conducting scanning probe microscopy methods

• César Moreno,
• Carmen Munuera,
• Xavier Obradors and
• Carmen Ocal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 722–730, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.82

• by means of Kelvin probe force microscopy [3], the results presented here support the memristor memory effect capable of memorizing the amount of charge that has passed through it. In order to gain insight to this issue, analysis of the I–V characteristics is needed. As commented above, vertical

Graphite, graphene on SiC, and graphene nanoribbons: Calculated images with a numerical FM-AFM

• Fabien Castanié,
• Laurent Nony,
• Sébastien Gauthier and
• Xavier Bouju

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 301–311, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.34

• sample upon interaction into account. One of the main difficulties here is to handle the different time scales that characterize the different dynamic behaviors of the oscillator and the AFM junction atoms. Finally, a Kelvin probe force microscopy module (KPFM) [86][87][88] will be included in a near

Junction formation of Cu₃BiS₃ investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy and surface photovoltage measurements

• Fredy Mesa,
• William Chamorro,
• William Vallejo,
• Robert Baier,
• Thomas Dittrich,
• Alexander Grimm,
• Martha C. Lux-Steiner and
• Sascha Sadewasser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 277–284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.31

• to be developed. We present an investigation of the Cu3BiS3 absorber layer and the junction formation with CdS, ZnS and In2S3 buffer layers. Kelvin probe force microscopy shows the granular structure of the buffer layers with small grains of 20–100 nm, and a considerably smaller work-function

• charge-selective contact has to be increased. Keywords: buffer layer; Cu3BiS3; Kelvin probe force microscopy; solar cells; Introduction Thin-film solar cells based on absorbers made from Cu(In,Ga)Se2 [1] or CdTe [2] reach the highest efficiencies currently available. Both semiconductors are interesting

• from the chemical bath will be deposited. Surface characterization by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) In order to comparatively characterize the growth and electronic properties of the different buffers, we performed KPFM measurements on the Cu3BiS3 samples with all three buffer layers, and as a

An NC-AFM and KPFM study of the adsorption of a triphenylene derivative on KBr(001)

• Antoine Hinaut,
• Adeline Pujol,
• Florian Chaumeton,
• David Martrou,
• André Gourdon and
• Sébastien Gauthier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 221–229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.25

• designed molecule, consisting of a flat aromatic triphenylene core equipped with six flexible propyl chains ending with polar cyano groups, is investigated by using atomic force microscopy in the noncontact mode (NC-AFM) coupled to Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) in ultrahigh vacuum at room

• room for progress as shown by the impressive submolecular resolution that has been demonstrated in recent works on the adsorption of pentacene [14] or decastarphene [15] molecules on Cu(111) and on a NaCl(001) bilayer on Cu(111). During the same period, Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) has been

Quantitative multichannel NC-AFM data analysis of graphene growth on SiC(0001)

• Christian Held,
• Thomas Seyller and
• Roland Bennewitz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 179–185, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.19

• representation of multichannel NC-AFM data sets in a quantitative fashion. Presentation and analysis are exemplified for topography and contact-potential data for graphene grown epitaxially on 6H-SiC(0001), as recorded by Kelvin probe force microscopy in ultrahigh vacuum. Sample preparations by thermal

• identification of the graphene layer thickness from the local contact potential as determined by means of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) [11][12]. As a further advantage, KPFM determines step heights more accurately than STM or AFM with constant bias [13] and is therefore employed in this study to

• almost the same carbon density as one layer of graphene [16]. Experimental Noncontact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) measurements were performed in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV, p < 2·10−10 mbar) by means of a home-built microscope similar to the one described in [17]. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM

Distinguishing magnetic and electrostatic interactions by a Kelvin probe force microscopy–magnetic force microscopy combination

• Miriam Jaafar,
• Oscar Iglesias-Freire,
• Luis Serrano-Ramón,
• Manuel Ricardo Ibarra,
• Jose Maria de Teresa and
• Agustina Asenjo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 552–560, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.59

• ; Kelvin probe force microscopy; magnetic force microscopy; magnetic nanostructures; Introduction The most valuable asset of scanning force microscopy (SFM) is its versatility for studying a variety of interactions between the tip and the sample surface [1][2][3]. The SFM techniques can be used to detect

• magnetic field during the MFM operation [14][15][16]; (ii) performing a combination of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) [17][18] and MFM to compensate the electrostatic contribution to the frequency shift signal. In the first method the evolution of the MFM signal with the magnetic field is a signature

• ., they exhibit large surface potential differences causing heterogeneous electrostatic interaction between the tip and the sample that could be interpreted as a magnetic interaction. To distinguish clearly the origin of the tip–sample forces we propose to use a combination of Kelvin probe force

The role of the cantilever in Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements

• George Elias,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Alex Schwarzman,
• Amir Boag and
• Yossi Rosenwaks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 252–260, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.29

• cantilever in quantitative Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) is rigorously analyzed. We use the boundary element method to calculate the point spread function of the measuring probe: Tip and cantilever. The calculations show that the cantilever has a very strong effect on the absolute value of the

• calculated and found to be relatively small. Keywords: boundary elements method; cantilever; convolution; Kelvin probe force microscopy; point spread function; Introduction The effect of the measuring probe in electrostatic force based microscopies, such as Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) [1], is very

Defects in oxide surfaces studied by atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy

• Thomas König,
• Georg H. Simon,
• Lars Heinke,
• Leonid Lichtenstein and
• Markus Heyde

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 1–14, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.1

• surface termination by NC-AFM with atomic resolution, point defects in magnesium oxide on Ag(001) and line defects in aluminum oxide on NiAl(110), respectively, were thoroughly studied. The contact potential was determined by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and the electronic structure by scanning

• applied on thin oxide films beyond imaging the topography of the surface atoms. Keywords: aluminum oxide; charge state; contact potential; defects; domain boundaries; dynamic force microscopy; frequency modulation atomic force microscopy; Kelvin probe force microscopy; magnesium oxide; non-contact atomic

• defects in oxide surfaces was studied by non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Furthermore, the contact potential was determined by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). This technique has a high spatial resolution, thus avoiding averaging over various

Scanning probe microscopy and related methods

• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 155–157, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.18

• molecules on surfaces. AFM has evolved considerably in the last few years, where new operation modes, such as non-contact force microscopy (nc-AFM), Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) or friction force microscopy (FFM), were developed. One main focus is the high resolution capabilities of nc-AFM, which

• Microscopy, FMM: Force Modulation Microscopy, ic-AFM: intermittent contact AFM, TMAFM: tapping mode AFM, nc-AFM: non-contact AFM, KPFM: Kelvin probe force microscopy, EFM: Electrostatic force microscopy, MFM: Magnetic force microscopy, MRFM: Magnetic resonance force microscopy, NSOM: Near-field scanning