PinPoint™ Nanomechanical mode obtains the best of resolution and accuracy for nanomechanical characterization. Stiffness, elastic modulus, adhesion forces are acquired simultaneously in real-time. While the XY scanner stops, the high speed force-distance curves are taken with well-defined control of contact force and contact time between the tip and the sample. Due to controllable data acquisition time, PinPoint™ Nanomechanical mode allows optimized nanomechanical measurement with high signal-to-noise ratio over various sample surfaces.

Read more about accurate Nanomechanical Imaging via PinPoint here

Video: Characterizing Multicomponent Polymer with PinPoint™ AFM

[Height]

[Adhesion force]

[Modulus]

Here, Force distance (FD) spectroscopy is a straightforward and reliable technique to quantitatively study nanomechanical properties such as Young’s modulus and adhesion force on a variety of samples. Therefore, FD spectroscopy has become a fundamental characterization tool in several fields of research, including polymer science, biochemistry, and biology. 

The various elastic properties that can be measured from Force vs. Distance curves.

Force Amplitude and Phase Imaging of Sample Elasticity

In addition to topographic imaging, Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is routinely used to resolve mechanical properties of various samples for material and life science on the nanometer scale. An established technique to probe nanomechanical properties is Force modulation microscopy (FMM). FMM is based on contact mode AFM with an additional mechanical modulation that is applied to the cantilever during the contact scan.

[Topography]/[FMM Phase]

Mapping of the Frictional Force

In AFM, frictional properties can be investigated via Lateral force microscopy (LFM). LFM can be used to study differences in material compositions on coating layers, lubricant properties, strength of adhesion on patterned structures and so on.

Advanced Vector Nanolithography Using Closed Loop Scan System

The Nanolithography mode allows you to manipulate and create patterning on the sample surface through applied force or voltage. Tip position for lithography can be easily controlled by importing your own vector drawings or raster (bitmap) images.

Pattern created on the surface by plowing the surface with the tip (a) and by changing the surface with applied bias (b)

Vector Nanolithography. The image is generated in vector by applying negative voltage between -5 and -10 V. Scanning rate was varied between 1 and 0.1 µm/s. The height of deposited oxide is about 2-4 nm.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based Nanoindentation quantitatively characterizes local mechanical properties of target specimen. In this technique, a hard AFM indentation tip with known mechanical properties presses against a sample surface until the tip deforms the surface.

NanoIndentation measures the hardness of a local region by pressing the indenter tip Into a sample.

Consistently produces high resolution and accurate data while maintaining the integrity of sample.

The True Non-Contact mode preserves tip sharpness and sample surface, and you can get more accurate results. In the True Non-Contact mode, a piezoelectric modulator vibrates a cantilever at small amplitude and a fixed frequency near the resonant frequency of the cantilever. As the tip is brought closer to the sample, the van der Waals attractive force between tip and sample changes the amplitude and the phase of the cantilever’s vibration. These changes are monitored by the patented Z-servo feedback system of the Park AFMs, which maintains a tip-surface distance of just a few nanometers without damaging the sample surface or the tip end.

The simplest scanning method to image the surface

The contact mode is the simplest way to acquire the sample topography. The topography signal comes from the Z scanner position, which maintains the deflection of the cantilever constant on the sample surface.

[Initial Topography]   /   [Topography change After 30min]

In this alternative technique to non-contact mode, the cantilever again oscillates just above the surface, but at a much higher amplitude of oscillation. The bigger oscillation makes the deflection signal large enough for the control circuit, and hence an easier control for topography feedback. It produces modest AFM results but blunts the tip’s sharpness at a higher rate, ultimately speeding up the loss of its imaging resolution.

[Topography]   /   [Phase]
Phase image of Crystal Facetts, collected simultaneously.

PinPoint^TM nanoelectrical modes eliminate lateral shear forces between the cantilever tip and the surface, thus minimizing damage while ensuring high imaging quality and reproducibility for a wide range of samples over many consecutive measurements. PinPoint can be combined with other AFM modes to obtain information about electrical properties such as:

• PinPoint Conductive AFM (C-AFM)
• PinPoint Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM)
• PinPoint Scanning Spreading Resistance Microscopy (SSRM)

1. The XY scanner stops during acquisition
2. Approach and retract at each pixel point.
3. Record the approach height and maintain the Z distance.

Brochures

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PinPoint™ Conductive AFM obtains the best of resolution and sensitivity during current measurements

PinPoint™ Conductive AFM was developed for well defined electric contact between the tip and the sample. They XY scanner stops while measuring the electric current with contact time controlled by a user. PinPoint™ Conductive AFM allows higher spatial resolution, without lateral force, with optimized current measurement over different sample surface.

Learn more about how PinPoint mode enhances investigation of electrical and electromechanical properties here

The conventional contact and tapping conductive AFM have cons and pros.
PinPoint iAFM has the best of both spatial resolution and current sensitivity.

Probing the Local Electronic Structure of a Sample’s Surface

With the continuous decrease in device sizes and critical dimensions in the semiconductor industry, the ability to measure electrical properties locally with a high spatial resolution is vital for accurate device characterization and failure analysis. Here, Atomic force microscopy (AFM) offers real space imaging of local surface properties on the nanoscale. Conductive AFM (C-AFM) in particular, simultaneously measures the topography and conductivity of a sample by scanning the surface with a conductive material coated tip as a nanoscale electrical probe at an applied DC bias.

The contrast on the Conductive AFM image indicates differences in the electrical property of the raised dots.
The topography of a DRAM surface and Conductive AFM image with various sample bias.

Park AFMs feature the ability to conduct current voltage spectroscopy on specified point of the sample surface. The low noise of Park Systems’ conductive AFM options allows for the detection of extremely small changes in a sample’s electronic characteristics.

High Resolution and High Sensitivity Imaging of Electrostatic Force

Almost every surface property measured by AFM is acquired by the process depicted. EFM measurements follow the same procedure. For EFM, the sample surface properties would be electrical properties and the interaction force will be the electrostatic force between the biased tip and sample. However, in addition to the electrostatic force, the van der Waals forces between the tip and the sample surface are always present. The magnitude of these van der Waals forces change according to the tip-sample distance, and are therefore used to measure the surface topography.

(a) Topography (b) EFM Amplitude at -1V sample bias

High Resolution and High Sensitivity Imaging of Surface Potential

Principle of KPFM is similar to Enhanced EFM with DC bias feedback. DC bias is controlled by feedback loop to zero the ω term. The DC bias that zeros the force is a measure of the surface potential. The difference is in the way the signal obtained from the Lock-in Amplifier is processed. As presented in previous section, the ω signal from Lock-in Amplifier can be expressed as following equation. scanning-kelvin-probe-microscopy-KPFM-f3 The ω signal can be used on its own to measure the surface potential. The amplitude of the ω signal is zero when VDC = Vs, or when the DC offset bias matches the surface potential of the sample. A feedback loop can be added to the system and vary the DC offset bias such that the output of the Lock-in Amplifier that measures the ω signal is zero. This value of the DC offset bias that zeroes the ω signal is then a measure of the surface potential. An image created from this variation in the DC offset bias is given as an image representing the absolute value of the surface potential.

Surface Potential distribution on graphene

High Resolution and High Sensitivity Imaging of Electrostatic Force

DC-EFM is capable of extremely high definition EFM results. Patented by Park Systems, DC-EFM actively applies an AC voltage bias to the cantilever and detects the amplitude and the phase change of the cantilever modulation with respect to the applied bias. DC-EFM provides the ability to monitor the second harmonic of the modulation which can be compared to the capacitance of a sample and enhances the electric force signal from the background intermolecular force.

Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is a functional Atomic force microscopy (AFM) mode, which probes electromechanical material properties on the nanometer scale in addition to the sample topography. As a conductive tip scans the surface in contact, an AC voltage introduces an electromechanical response in piezoelectric compounds and thereby resolves local variations of piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties. PFM has gained increasing recognition for the unique information it can offer on the electromechanical coupling characteristics of various materials including actuators, sensors, and capacitors for modern communication technology.

QuickStep™ to make faster SCM data acquisition

In order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, conventional SCM adopts very slow scan speeds as a means of giving the detector enough time to collect the data. QuickStep™ SCM differs from the conventional methodology of slow continuous movement. Here, XY scanner stops at each pixel point to record the data and then makes a fast and rapid hop to the next measurement points. This effectively speeds up the scan rate while maintaining the same signal sensitivity of the measurements by conventional SCM at slow scan speeds.

Application note: Accurate dopant profiles of semiconductor device structures with QuickStep Scanning Capacitance Microscopy

QuickStep Scan (Scan rate 1.5Hz)

Conventional Scan (Scan rate 1Hz)

High Resolution and High Sensitivity Imaging of Charge Distribution

Our SCM mode provides doping concentration information over the sample surface by measuring the capacitance change between tip and sample. the module enables a variable resonator frequency, which allows a wide RF bandwidth capable of monitoring a large range of doping concentrations by selecting the most sensitive frequency of the resonator for a specific doping range.

The n-doped silicon sample has areas of varying dopant concentration, imaged by Park SCM.
The doping concentration of less than an order of magnitude is clearly distinguishable.

Probing the Local Electronic Structure of a Sample’s Surface

Our SSRM mode precisely measures the local resistance over a sample surface by using a conductive AFM tip to scan a small region while applying DC bias.

Probing the Local Electronic Structure of a Sample’s Surface

STM measures the tunneling current between tip and sample, giving highly accurate sub-nanometer scale images you can use to gain insights into sample properties.

STM image of YBCO super conductor

Enabling Innovation in Photosensitive Materials Research

Our PCM mode measures photoelectric response to a illumination without interference from unwanted light sources, including the feedback laser. This mode features a laser illumination module and acquisition and analysis software.

A typical photocurrent response to a time-resolved illumination.
The current between the sample and a voltage-biased cantilever is measured before, during, and after the illumination.

 

Point-by-point mapping of photocurrent spectroscopy.
Photocurrent response in time domain is acquired in each grid point defined on a sample.

Imaging Modes

Park offers some of the most innovative imaging modes and technology. Our True Non-Contact mode is the world’s only truly non-contact AFM scanning mode while our standard scanning mode is among the most accurate available.

• True Non-Contact™ Mode
• Contact Mode
• Tapping Mode

Electrical Modes

For engineers and researchers that need accurate data on conductance, sample resistance, and other electrical and topographic properties, Park offers a range of electrical scanning modes.

• PinPoint™ Conductive AFM
• Conductive AFM (C-AFM)
• I-V Spectroscopy
• Electrostatic Force Microscopy
• Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy
• Dynamic Contact EFM
• Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM)

• Piezoresponse Force Spectroscopy
• QuickStep™ SCM
• Scanning Capacitance Microscopy
• Scanning Spreading Resistance Microscopy
• Scanning Tunneling Microscopy
• Photo Current Mapping (PCM)

Nanomechanical Modes

Easily measure the mechanical properties of your sample using our set of mechanical scanning modes. Each features Park System’s trademark accuracy so you always know
you’re collecting data you can rely on.

• PinPoint™ Nanomechanical Mode
• Force Distance Spectroscopy
• Force Volume Imaging
• Force Modulation Microscopy

• Lateral Force Microscopy
• Nanolithography
• Nanoindentation
• Spring Constant Calibration

Special Modes

• Scanning Thermal Microscopy
• Magnetic Force Microscopy
• Tunable Magnetic Field MFM
• Chemical Force Microscopy
• Electrochemical Microscopy
• Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy
• Scanning ElectroChemical Cell Microscopy