Image formation and contrast inversion in noncontact atomic force microscopy imaging of oxidized Cu(110) surfaces

Bamidele, Joseph; Kinoshita, Yukinori; Turanský, Robert; Lee, Seung Hwan; Naitoh, Yoshitaka; Li, Y. J.; Sugawara, Yasuhiro; Štich, Ivan; Kantorovich, Lev

doi:10.1103/physrevb.90.035410

Cited by 9 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Therefore, we expect the tip apex to be covered with sample material and focused on stable Cu(111)-based tetragonal tip models that terminate in a copper or an oxygen atom (Figure G). These two tips were found to widely describe the NC-AFM (and STM) imaging characteristics on copper oxide surfaces. − Furthermore, we considered an OH-terminated tip and a Cu tip where an O atom is bound to one of its side faces (Cu-CuO tip) as shown in Figure S2A. We employed these model tips to compute force–distance curves above the AR-O and AR-Cu sites, which are presented in Figure H and Figure S2B.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Submolecular Imaging by Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy with an Oxygen Atom Rigidly Connected to a Metallic Probe

Mönig

Hermoso²,

Arado

et al. 2015

ACS Nano

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In scanning probe microscopy, the imaging characteristics in the various interaction channels crucially depend on the chemical termination of the probe tip. Here we analyze the contrast signatures of an oxygen-terminated copper tip with a tetrahedral configuration of the covalently bound terminal O atom. Supported by first-principles calculations we show how this tip termination can be identified by contrast analysis in noncontact atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy (NC-AFM, STM) on a partially oxidized Cu(110) surface. After controlled tip functionalization by soft indentations of only a few angstroms in an oxide nanodomain, we demonstrate that this tip allows imaging an organic molecule adsorbed on Cu(110) by constant-height NC-AFM in the repulsive force regime, revealing its internal bond structure. In established tip functionalization approaches where, for example, CO or Xe is deliberately picked up from a surface, these probe particles are only weakly bound to the metallic tip, leading to lateral deflections during scanning. Therefore, the contrast mechanism is subject to image distortions, artifacts, and related controversies. In contrast, our simulations for the O-terminated Cu tip show that lateral deflections of the terminating O atom are negligible. This allows a detailed discussion of the fundamental imaging mechanisms in high-resolution NC-AFM experiments. With its structural rigidity, its chemically passivated state, and a high electron density at the apex, we identify the main characteristics of the O-terminated Cu tip, making it a highly attractive complementary probe for the characterization of organic nanostructures on surfaces.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Submolecular Imaging by Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy with an Oxygen Atom Rigidly Connected to a Metallic Probe

Mönig

Hermoso²,

Arado

et al. 2015

ACS Nano

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“…In order to further explore the effect of different surface environments, a second set of structures with (110) exposed facets, an oxygen coverage of 0.5 ML, and thicknesses ranging from 2.3 to 5.1 nm is studied. In these structures, the surface environment corresponds to the missing row p(2 × 1) reconstruction which has been extensively studied 21,[24][25][26][27] , and has been the focus of recent atomic force microscopy studies due to its chemical fingerprinting properties [28][29][30] . Similar to the previously discussed surface environment, each surface Cu atom bonds The definition of film thickness is somewhat ambiguous due to the atomistic structure of the films; a convention of choosing the thickness of the slab to be the internuclear separation between atoms in the top and bottom surfaces of the thin film plus twice the atomic radius of Cu (128 pm) is followed.…”

Section: Methods a Thin Film Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of strain, thickness, and local surface environment on electron transport properties of oxygen-terminated copper thin films

et al. 2016

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“…So far, the verification of tip functionalization with oxygen relies on comparing experimental results with calculations: The experimental STM and AFM images of copper oxide domains are compared with density functional theory (DFT) and nonequilibrium Greens function (NEGF) calculations to determine the chemical identity of the tip apex. [18][19][20][21] A description of the atomic tip apex structure requires a large tip model database obtained after extensive and timeconsuming simulations, and precise determination of the structural apex composition is not always possible. 21 Conversely, a carbon-monoxide molecule adsorbed on a Cu(111) surface can be used to image the tip apex with atomic resolution, a technique known as the carbon-monoxide front atom identification (COFI) method.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

In-situ characterization of O-terminated Cu tips for high-resolution atomic force microscopy

Liebig

Giessibl

2019

Applied Physics Letters

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Functionalizing a metal tip with a single CO molecule (CO tip) leads to an unprecedented spatial resolution of small organic molecules by frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) at low temperatures. O-terminated Cu tips (CuOx tips) show comparable imaging capabilities as CO tips but exhibit a much stiffer apex. So far, to verify tip functionalization with oxygen (i.e., CuOx tips), scanning tunneling microscopy and AFM images, together with force spectroscopy curves of copper oxide domains, have been compared with calculated data for different tip models. Here, we apply the carbon-monoxide front atom identification (COFI) method and additional force spectroscopy to characterize CuOx tips in-situ on a Cu(110) surface. In COFI, a single CO molecule adsorbed on a Cu surface is imaged to atomically resolve the tip apex. Based on our findings, we suggest accompanying tip fingerprinting with COFI and force spectroscopy to identify the atomic and chemical compositions of the apex of CuOx tips for high-resolution AFM experiments.

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Image formation and contrast inversion in noncontact atomic force microscopy imaging of oxidized Cu(110) surfaces

Cited by 9 publications

References 26 publications

Submolecular Imaging by Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy with an Oxygen Atom Rigidly Connected to a Metallic Probe

Submolecular Imaging by Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy with an Oxygen Atom Rigidly Connected to a Metallic Probe

Effect of strain, thickness, and local surface environment on electron transport properties of oxygen-terminated copper thin films

In-situ characterization of O-terminated Cu tips for high-resolution atomic force microscopy

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