AVS 62nd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Scanning Probe Microscopy Focus Topic Thursday Sessions
       Session SP-ThP

Paper SP-ThP3
Surface Reconstruction for Accuracy Improvement in Nanoparticle Size Characterization

Thursday, October 22, 2015, 6:00 pm, Room Hall 3

Session: Scanning Probe Microscopy Poster Session
Presenter: James Su, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taiwan, Republic of China
Authors: J.Y. Su, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taiwan, Republic of China
N.N. Chu, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taiwan, Republic of China
C.T. Lin, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taiwan, Republic of China
P.L. Chen, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taiwan, Republic of China
M.H. Shiao, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taiwan, Republic of China
C.N. Hsiao, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taiwan, Republic of China
F.Z. Chen, Instrument Technology Research Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, Taiwan, Republic of China
Correspondent: Click to Email
In this study compares the analytical results of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for characterizing size distributions of various nanoparticles in the size range of (10 – 300) nm. Polymer nanospheres, mixture of colloidal gold and GaN quantum dots were characterized by both techniques. Both techniques were recalibrated with transfer standards traceable to the international metrology institute PTB where the combined uncertainty of measurement results were less than 1%. Average SEM values for mono-size dispersed particles of polymer and gold were slightly lower than the nominal values where AFM values were slightly higher on the contrary. Additional AFM deconvolution process has efficiently reduced the slight broadening of measurement results due to tip effects. Supported by comparisons to published data obtained on quantum dots of increasing diameters, the results show that the apparent size of small details appears to be larger than their actual dimension and the apparent distance between small objects may appear less than their actual dimension. The same method allows us to develop strategies to minimize the errors when the dimension of details is of less the order than the effective resolution of the operated SEM. Most of the size distributions were easily identified with AFM, and the modified average particle size for mono-size dispersed particles is in a good agreement with the nominal values. AFM characterization of nanoparticles using effective deconvolution process and statistical analysis software provides both accurate and rapid analysis for nanoparticle characterization.