Tag: Arrow-EFM

Influence of orientation and ferroelectric domains on the photochemical reactivity of La2Ti2O7

In the article “Influence of orientation and ferroelectric domains on the photochemical reactivity of La2Ti2O7” Mingyi Zhang, Paul A. Salvador and Gregory S. Rohrer describe how they measured the effects of crystal orientation and ferroelectric domain structure on the photochemical reactivity of La2Ti2O7. *

The reactivity is greatest on (001) surfaces (this is the orientation of the layers in this (110)p layered perovskite structure) while surfaces perpendicular to this orientation have the least reactivity. Complex domain structures were observed within the grains, but they appeared to have no effect on the photocathodic reduction of silver, in contrast to previous observations on other ferroelectrics. La2Ti2O7 is an example of a ferroelectric oxide in which the crystal orientation has a greater influence on the photochemical reactivity than polarization from the internal domain structure. *

NanoWorld™ conductive Platinum Iridium coated Arrow-EFM AFM probes were used for the Piezo-force microscopy (PFM) that was used to determine the ferroelectric domain structure on the surface. *

The ferroelectric domains on the surface were found to have irregular shapes and there was no correlation between the pattern of silver reduction and the domain shape. The results indicate that the ferroelectric polarization of La2Ti2O7 does not alter the reactivity enough to overcome the influence of the anisotropic crystal structure. *

Fig. 6 a and b from “Influence of orientation and ferroelectric domains on the photochemical reactivity of La2Ti2O7” by Mingyi Zhang et al. A La2Ti2O7 grain imaged with different modalities. (a) a PFM out-of-plane amplitude image. (b) a PFM out-of-plane phase image. A meandering black line in (a), marked by the arrow, corresponds to a change from light to dark contrast in the phase image. The dark (light) contrast corresponds to regions with -180° (0°) phase shift. NanoWorld conductive Arrow-EFM AFM probes were used for the piezo-force microscopy. Please have a look at the full article cited below for the full figure
Fig. 6 a and b from “Influence of orientation and ferroelectric domains on the photochemical reactivity of La2Ti2O7” by Mingyi Zhang et al.
A La2Ti2O7 grain imaged with different modalities. (a) a PFM out-of-plane amplitude image. (b) a PFM out-of-plane phase image. A meandering black line in (a), marked by the arrow, corresponds to a change from light to dark contrast in the phase image. The dark (light) contrast corresponds to regions with -180° (0°) phase shift. Please have a look at the full article cited below for the full figure

*Mingyi Zhang, Paul A. Salvador and Gregory S.Rohrer
Influence of orientation and ferroelectric domains on the photochemical reactivity of La2Ti2O7
Journal of the European Ceramic Society (2020)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2020.09.020

Please follow this external link to read the full article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955221920307445

Open Access : The article “Influence of orientation and ferroelectric domains on the photochemical reactivity of La2Ti2O7” by Mingyi Zhang, Paul A. Salvador, Gregory S. Rohrer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

KPFM surface photovoltage measurement and numerical simulation

Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy ( KPFM ) is a scanning probe microscopy technique. It is a combination of the Kelvin probe and of Atomic Force Microscopy methods. The technique consists in evaluating the difference in work function between two conducting materials, by using a nanometer scale tip ( the “KPFMtip”), and placing it close to the material to be characterised, where a difference in work function leads to an electrostatic force developing between the two, which is translated as an oscillation of the tip’s cantilever. A bia sapplied via an external circuit is varied until the force and hence the electrostatic field between sample and KPFM tip is cancelled.*

In the article “KPFM surface photovoltage measurement and numerical simulation” Clément Marchat, James P. Connolly, Jean-Paul Kleider, José Alvarez, Lejo J. Koduvelikulathu and Jean Baptiste Puel present a method for the analysis of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) characterization of semiconductor devices.
It enables evaluation of the influence of defective surface layers. The model is validated by analysing experimental KPFM measurements on crystalline silicon samples of contact potential difference (VCPD) in the dark and under illumination, and hence the surface photovoltage (SPV). It is shown that the model phenomenologically explains the observed KPFM measurements. It reproduces the magnitude of SPV characterization as a function of incident light power in terms of a defect density assuming Gaussian defect distribution in the semiconductor bandgap. This allows an estimation of defect densities in surface layers of semiconductors and therefore increased exploitation of KPFM data.*

The KPFM measurements were performed using NanoWorld ARROW-EFM conductive AFM tips with a PtIr coating.
The tip work function didn’t require calibration because only SPV measurement were performed and studied. Measurements were performed in the KPFM amplitude modulation (AM)mode rather than the frequency modulation (FM) one. The AM mode was chosen because lateral resolution was not a problem on the homogeneous bulk samples studied, allowing focus on the superior surface potential resolution that can be achieved with the AM mode.*

Fig. 1 from “KPFM surface photovoltage measurement and numerical simulation” by Clément Marchat et al:
Kelvin probe force microscopy setup schematic. The conducting cantilever carrying the KPFM tip is scanned over a surface while AC + DC potential is applied. The AC signal is a sinusoid whose frequency matches the mechanical resonance of the cantilever. The four-quadrant detector provides feedback in order to minimise cantilever oscillation by varying the DC signal thereby yielding the sample work function compared to the tip one.

*Clément Marchat, James P. Connolly, Jean-Paul Kleider, José Alvarez, Lejo J. Koduvelikulathu and Jean Baptiste Puel
KPFM surface photovoltage measurement and numerical simulation
EPJ Photovoltaics10, 3 (2019)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/epjpv/2019002

Please follow this external link to read the full article: https://www.epj-pv.org/articles/epjpv/abs/2019/01/pv180014/pv180014.html

Open Access The article “KPFM surface photovoltage measurement and numerical simulation “ by Clément Marchat, James P. Connolly, Jean-Paul Kleider, José Alvarez, Lejo J. Koduvelikulathu and Jean Baptiste Puel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Electrical conductivity of silver nanoparticle doped carbon nanofibres measured by CS-AFM

Composite carbon nanofibres (CNFs) are highly interesting materials which are usable in a wide array of applications e.g. electrode materials for biosensors, lithium ion batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors.*

In their paper “Electrical conductivity of silver nanoparticle doped carbon nanofibres measured by CS-AFM” Wael Ali, Valbone Shabani, Matthias Linke, Sezin Sayin, Beate Gebert, Sedakat Altinpinar, Marcus Hildebrandt, Jochen S. Gutmann and Thomas Mayer-Gall present a study on the electrical properties of composite carbon nanofibres (CNFs) using current-sensitive atomic force microscopy (CS-AFM).*

This technique makes it possible to explore the electrical properties of single fibers and hence derive relationships between the structural features and the electrical properties.
NanoWorld AFM probes with conductive PtIr5 coated silicon tips (force constant 2.8 N m−1, length 240 μm, mean width 35 μm and a thickness of 3 μm, and tip height 10–15 μm) Arrow-EFM were used.*

The results presented in the paper show that the composite CNFs have a higher electrical conductivity than the neat CNFs and both the average diameter of the fibers and the electrical conductivity increase with an increasing AgNP content.*

Fig. 8 from “Electrical conductivity of silver nanoparticle doped carbon nanofibres measured by CS-AFM “ by Wael Ali et al.: CS-AFM analysis of CNFs processed from PAN nanofibres electrospun with different concentrations. Images show the friction and current after both stabilisation (a) and carbonisation (b) processes. The applied bias voltage was +0.15 V. The scan area was 5 × 5 μm2 with a scale bar of 1 μm.

Fig. 8 from “Electrical conductivity of silver nanoparticle doped carbon nanofibres measured by CS-AFM “ by Wael Ali et al.: CS-AFM analysis of CNFs processed from PAN nanofibres electrospun with different concentrations. Images show the friction and current after both stabilisation (a) and carbonisation (b) processes. The applied bias voltage was +0.15 V. The scan area was 5 × 5 μm2 with a scale bar of 1 μm.

*Wael Ali, Valbone Shabani, Matthias Linke, Sezin Sayin, Beate Gebert, Sedakat Altinpinar, Marcus Hildebrandt, Jochen S. Gutmann, Thomas Mayer-Gall
Electrical conductivity of silver nanoparticle doped carbon nanofibres measured by CS-AFM
RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 4553-4562
DOI: 10.1039/C8RA04594A

Please follow this external link to the full article: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2019/ra/c8ra04594a

Open Access: The article “Electrical conductivity of silver nanoparticle doped carbon nanofibres measured by CS-AFM” by Wael Ali, Valbone Shabani, Matthias Linke, Sezin Sayin, Beate Gebert, Sedakat Altinpinar, Marcus Hildebrandt, Jochen S. Gutmann and Thomas Mayer-Gall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.