Forums
Bruker Media
Community Media
Bruker AFM Probes
SPM Digest
Application Notes
NanoTheater
Website
中文
Brochures & Datasheets
Publications
Probes Catalog
Events
Manuals & Documentation
Presentations
Guide to AFM Modes
News
Journal Club
Webinars & Video
Nanovations
Other
Hi All, does anyone here have noticed a drastic reduction of the conductivity of these tips after some months? It appears to me that a very thin layer of oxide-like material has covered all my tips. From the IV curve it's clear that there a threshold at which the current is enough to brake the oxide.
Would you be able to examine the tips with SEM or tip calibration gratings?
Could it also be a bad contact of the chip with probe holder?
Cheers,DmitryMIAWiki
Hi, thanks for your reply, I've examined a brand new tip with the sem and it looks absolutely normal to me, actually I think that the tip is scratching the surface of my samples although this doesn't explain why the conductivity of the scanned area is being reduced. I want to point out that this is independent of the voltage applied to the tip, even with Vtip=0 there's still less conduction. Maybe I am seeing something different, electrostatic oxidation? Mechanical oxidation? Seems very weird to me.
Hi Peiman,
please consider the built-in voltage of the probe - sample junction that may affect your electric measurements. That may explain IV curve shift from 0V for example. The modification of the surface (both oxidation in air and roughness increase) at pre-acquisition scanning can be a major problem too. Try to mimimize the cantilever load at imaging and work in tapping or non-contact mode if possible. Take a look at MIAWiki:http://confocal-manawatu.pbworks.com/w/page/46002654/Electrical%20Measurements%20Reproducibility%20AFMand principles of careful imaging with AFMhttp://confocal-manawatu.pbworks.com/w/page/44485642/Imaging%20Unknown%20Sample%20with%20AFM
Please be more specific re experimental conditions, etc. if that did not help. Try to simplify the experiment and measure a sample with known work function.