Anisotropy of local electrical conductivity of hyper-stoichiometric uranium dioxide revealed by current-sensing atomic force microscopy (CS-AFM)

Determination of the barrier height of Pt-Ir Schottky nano-contacts on Al-doped ZnO thin films by conductive Atomic Force Microscopy

“…1. As was mentioned above, for the characterization of this nano-contact the conductive AFM method in contact mode [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] was used. The used tip was the SCM-PIT model (BRUKER) which has a nominal spring constant of k n = 2.8 N/m and has a metallic coating of Platinum-Iridium of 20 nm thickness.…”

“…On the other hand, it is well known that Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is an important tool in the nanotechnology as for example in the investigation of electrical properties by means of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy or the conductive AFM technique [5][6][7]. The conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (C-AFM) technique has been widely used to measure the surface electrical current of different materials such as conductors, semiconductors, dielectric or even biological materials [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Werner Frammelsberger et al [8] reported electrical measurements of SiO 2 thin films using C-AFM technique.…”

“…Werner Frammelsberger et al [8] reported electrical measurements of SiO 2 thin films using C-AFM technique. Kevin D. O'Neil et al [9] reported electrical conductivity of uranium oxide using C-AFM as well. Jeffrey M. Mativetsky et al [10] reported molecular junction studies by means of conductive Atomic Force Microscopy.…”

Probing local surface conductance using current sensing atomic force microscopy

“…1, 2 Among various techniques developed for the characterization of nanostructured materials, current sensing atomic force microscopy (CSAFM) has become a versatile and powerful tool for probing the structures and the local charge transport properties of these materials. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The technique allows simultaneously mapping surface morphology and local charge conductivity with nanometer resolution, which assures that the topological features with different electrical conductivity can be distinguished. Comparing to scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) which normally is limited to the study of conducting materials, CSAFM allows for investigating a wide variety of materials including materials with heterogeneous structures in which some regions can be completely nonconductive.…”

“…Because of these features, CSAFM has been used in recent years in the studies of conducting domain structures in nanocomposite materials and semiconducting co-polymer films, and ionic channel structures in ionic exchange membranes. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] The configuration of a current sensing atomic force microscope is a conventional atomic force microscope (AFM) added with a sensitive electrical current detecting circuit which connects the conductive probe tip in the AFM to a plane electrode placed beneath the sample being scanned. 7-10 a) Electronic mail: zhud@umkc.edu.…”