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We deposited 80 nm thick gold film on a glass substrate and made a 6 um scratch. We carried out EFM at the gap. We observed that glass region looked more darker in both positive and negative biasing (+/-1V) with 120 nm lift height. Au film is a smooth and continuous film with out any Au nanoparticles. As per my knowledge we should not observe any contrast. Could any one please explain this observation.
AFM system- Innova AFM
Thanks,
Gangaiah Mettela.
Hi Gangaiah,
Why do you think there would be no contrast between gold and glass? You will have an attractive force when over the gold film and less so over the glass. That is exactly what you seem to observe.
What problem are you trying to adrerss using EFM?
Best regards,
Stefan
Dear Sir,
Thanks for reply. I could not understand why does Au get attract?
If surface is too rough (~150 nm) with holes is there a way to collect EFM in a precise way?
Thanks and regards,
Gangaiah
You are having an electrostatic interaction between the sample and your tip that you are measuring. This is the origin of your signal that you observe. Surface roughness play of course a role and in general the smoother the surface is the "better" the measurement, i.e. you are less affected by artifacts arising from edges where suddenly the effective contact area of your tip changes. Your AFM is of course always operating with the same precision this is purely a matter of sample preparation. Can you anneal your film or polish it?
Regards,