AVS 47th International Symposium
    Processing at the Nanoscale/NANO 6 Wednesday Sessions
       Session NS+NANO6-WeP

Paper NS+NANO6-WeP16
Resolution Enhancement in Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy

Wednesday, October 4, 2000, 11:00 am, Room Exhibit Hall C & D

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: R. Shikler, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Authors: R. Shikler, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
O. Kazael, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Y. Rosenwaks, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Correspondent: Click to Email
Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) has become in recent years a valuable tool for characterizing and analyzing semiconductor surface electronic properties with nanometer resolution. The Kelvin probe force microscope measures the semiconductor work function by nullifying the electrostatic force between a vibrating tip and the semiconductor surface. It is accepted that the finite tip size in scanning probe microscopy can have a profound effect on the obtained topography image. This phenomenon is enhanced in KPFM measurements because the electrostatic force is long range, hence introducing topographic artifacts into the contact potential difference image. We propose an algorithm that improves the lateral resolution and reduces the topographic artifacts of the contact potential image by taking into account the full tip shape and the semiconductor surface. By using the real tip shape and sample topography (obtained using conventional blind tip estimation and dilation algorithms), the true contact potential difference image can be deconvoluted. A comparison of measured and deconvoluted KPFM images is presented, and the limits of the method are discussed.