• Applied Microscopy
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.100-104
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• 2014

As decreasing device size, probing of nanoscale surface properties becomes more significant. In particular, nanoscale probing of surface potential has paid much attention for understanding various surface phenomena. In this article, we review different atomic force microscopy techniques, including electrostatic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy, for measuring surface potential at the nanoscale. The review could provide fundamental information on the probing method of surface potential using atomic force microscopy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.133-133
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• 2011

최근 연구중인 소자들의 크기가 점차 나노 크기를 가짐에 따라서 나노 영역에 대한 물성 분석 연구의 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 특히 나노 크기를 가지는 소자에 대한 기계적 특성은 기존의 마이크로 이상의 소자와는 다른 특성을 보이는 것으로 보고되고 있다. 그러나 이러한 나노 크기에 대한 연구에서 대부분을 차지하는 분광학적, 전기적 방법은 측정 영역 한계와 일정 깊이에 대한 평균적인 정보를 제공하게 된다. 본 연구에서는 나노트라이볼로지 분석의 대표적인 Nano-indenter와 Scanning Probe Microscopy(SPM) 분석을 통하여 박막의 수 혹은 수십 나노 미만의 영역과 깊이에 대한 기계적 물성을 연구하였고, 이를 기반으로 수십 나노 이하 두께를 가지는 W-N 확산박지막에 대한 연구를 실시하였다. 연구 결과에 의하면, 박막의 표면 hardness는 박막의 두께가 감소함에 따라서 4.19 GPa에서 3.51 GPa로 감소하였고, Weibull modulus를 통한 박막의 균일도는 2.75에서 7.91로 급격히 증가하는 현상을 나타내었다. 또한 SPM의 Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), Force modulation microscopy (FMM) mode를 활용하여 표면에서의 Nitrogen 흡착에 의한 영상, 전기적 및 표면 탄성에 대한 연구를 실시하였다.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.51
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• pp.7.1-7.9
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• 2021

Neuromorphic systems require integrated structures with high-density memory and selector devices to avoid interference and recognition errors between neighboring memory cells. To improve the performance of a selector device, it is important to understand the characteristics of the switching process. As changes by switching cycle occur at local nanoscale areas, a high-resolution analysis method is needed to investigate this phenomenon. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to analyze the local changes because it offers nanoscale detection with high-resolution capabilities. This review introduces various types of AFM such as conductive AFM (C-AFM), electrostatic force microscopy (EFM), and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) to study switching behaviors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.32-32
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• 2009

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a wide-bandgap semiconductor that has materials properties necessary for the high-power, high-frequency, high-temperature, and radiation-hard condition applications, where silicon devices cannot perform. SiC is also the only compound semiconductor material. on which a silicon oxide layer can be thermally grown, and therefore may fabrication processes used in Si-based technology can be adapted to SiC. So far, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been extensively used to study the surface charges, dielectric constants and electrical potential distribution as well as topography in silicon-based device structures, whereas it has rarely been applied to SiC-based structures. In this work, we investigated that the local oxide growth on SiC under various conditions and demonstrated that an increased (up to ~100 nN) tip loading force (LF) on highly-doped SiC can lead a direct oxide growth (up to few tens of nm) on 4H-SiC. In addition, the surface potential and topography distributions of nano-scale patterned structures on SiC were measured at a nanometer-scale resolution using a scanning kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPM) with a non-contact mode AFM. The measured results were calibrated using a Pt-coated tip. It is assumed that the atomically resolved surface potential difference does not originate from the intrinsic work function of the materials but reflects the local electron density on the surface. It was found that the work function of the nano-scale patterned on SiC was higher than that of original SiC surface. The results confirm the concept of the work function and the barrier heights of oxide structures/SiC structures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.132-132
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• 2008

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an attractive material for high-power, high-temperature, and high-frequency applications. So far, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been extensively used to study the surface charges, dielectric constants and electrical potential distribution as well as topography in silicon-based device structures, whereas it has rarely been applied to SiC-based structures. In this work, the surface potential and topography distributions SiC with different doping levels were measured at a nanometer-scale resolution using a scanning kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPM) with a non-contact mode AFM. The measured results were calibrated using a Pt-coated tip and a metal defined electrical contacts of Au onto SiC. It is assumed that the atomically resolved surface potential difference does not originate from the intrinsic work function of the materials but reflects the local electron density on the surface. It was found that the work function of the Au deposited on SiC surface was higher than that of original SiC surface. The dependence of the surface potential on the doping levels in SiC, as well as the variation of surface potential with respect to the schottky barrier height has been investigated. The results confirm the concept of the work function and the barrier heights of metal/SiC structures.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.141-146
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• 2017

We investigated configuration of metallic and insulating domains in $VO_2$ thin films, while spanning metal-insulator phase transition. Kelvin probe force microscopy, of which spatial resolution is less than 100 nm, enables us to measure local work function (WF) at the sample surface. The WF of $VO_2$ thin films decreased (increased) as increasing (decreasing) the sample temperature, during the phase transition. The higher and lower WF regions corresponded to the insulating and metallic domains, respectively. The metallic fraction, estimated from the WF maps, well explained the temperature-dependent resistivity based on the percolation model. The WF mapping also showed us how the structural defects affected the phase transition behaviors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Ceranic Society Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.86.2-86
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.224-224
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• 2011

OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) 디스플레이에서는 반사율이 가장 높은 silver (Ag)가 쓰이고 있지만, 소자에서 요구되는 일함수의 불일치 때문에 전극과 유기물간에 에너지 장벽이 발생하여 발광효율을 낮추는 요인이 되고 있다. 본 논문에서는 Ag 전극의 work function을 조절하기 위한 연구를 진행하였다. Ag를 rf magnetron sputter를 이용해 glass위에 증착한 후 furnace에서 300$^{\circ}C$, 30분간 공기중에서 열처리 하였고. 또 다른 샘플은 산소분위기에서 표면에 상압플라즈마로 처리 시간(30, 60, 90, 120 sec)을 각기 다르게 하여 샘플을 제조하였다. Ag전극은 Nanoindentation을 통해 국부 영역에 대한 물리적 특성의 변화를 측정하였고 Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM)을 이용해 샘플의 포텐셜을 측정했다. 그 결과 열처리한 샘플은 포텐셜값은 가장 커졌지만 균일도가 낮아졌다. 30 sec, 120 sec 플라즈마 처리한 샘플은 탄성계수, 경도값, 및 Weibull modulus를 극히 낮게 만들었지만 60s, 90s 플라즈마 처리는 샘플의 경도값 균일도를 증가시켰다.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.12-15
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• 2017

We presented a mapping the work function of the vanadium pentoxide ($V_2O_5$) nanonet structures by scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM). In this measurement, the $V_2O_5$ nanonet was self-assembled via dropping the solution of $V_2O_5$ nanowires (NWs) onto the $SiO_2$ substrate and drying the solvent, resulting in the networks of $V_2O_5$ NWs. We found that the SKPM signal as a surface potential of $V_2O_5$ nanonet is attributed to the contact potential difference (CPD) between the work functions of the metal tip and the $V_2O_5$ nanonet. We generated the histograms of the CPD signals obtained from the SKPM mapping of the $V_2O_5$ nanonet as well as the highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) which is used as a reference for the calibration of the SKPM tip. By using the histogram peaks of the CPD signals, we successfully estimated the work function of ~5.1 eV for the $V_2O_5$ nanonet structures. This work provides a possibility of a nanometer-scale imaging of the work function of the various nanostructures and helps to understand the electrical characteristics of the future electronic devices.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1309-1312
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• 2009

Surface potential and growth processes of hexadecanethiol (HDT) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au(111) surfaces were examined by Kelvin probe method and scanning tunneling microscopy. It was found that surface potential strongly depends on surface structure of HDT SAMs. The surface potential shift for the striped phase of HDT SAMs chemisorbed on Au(111) surface was +0.45 eV, which was nearly the same as that of the flat-lying hexadecane layer physisorbed on Au(111) surface. This result indicates that the interfacial dipole layer induced by adsorption of alkyl chains is a main contributor to the surface potential change. In the densely-packed HDT monolayer, further change of the surface potential was observed, suggesting that the dipole moment of the alkanethiol molecules is an origin of the surface potential change. These results indicate that the work function of a metal electrode can be modified by controlling the molecular orientation of an adsorbed molecule.