AVS 47th International Symposium
    Processing at the Nanoscale/NANO 6 Friday Sessions
       Session NS+NANO6+MC-FrM

Paper NS+NANO6+MC-FrM3
Dynamic Polarization Imaging using Heterodyned Electrostatic Forces

Friday, October 6, 2000, 9:00 am, Room 302

Session: Nanoscale Spectroscopy
Presenter: D.R. Oliver, University of Manitoba, Canada
Authors: D.R. Oliver, University of Manitoba, Canada
A. Pu, University of Manitoba, Canada
D.J. Thomson, University of Manitoba, Canada
G.E. Bridges, University of Manitoba, Canada
Correspondent: Click to Email
Electric fields at the surface of dielectric materials will produce dipoles related to the polarizability of the material. In this paper we will present a technique that measures the polarization induced by a conducting probe near a surface. The images obtained are derived from the electrostatic forces between the probe and surface. In favourable geometries, the spatial resolution approaches the probe diameter. This measurement technique can be extended to frequencies well above the mechanical resonant fr equency of the probe cantilever by utilizing amplitude modulation heterodyning. Using heterodyning, both time- and frequency-domain forms of this technique can be realized. We expect this technique to be useable up to frequencies of at least 20 GHz and time resolution of 100 ps. We present calculations of the forces generated assuming simple probe geometries and also thermal noise. Experimental results presented compare favourably with these calculations.