Scanning Probe Microscopy in Materials Science
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Scanning Probe
Microscopy in Materials Science
Ernst Meyer, Suzanne P. Jarvis, and Nicholas D. Spencer, Guest Editors Abstract This brief article introduces the July 2004 issue of MRS Bulletin, focusing on Scanning Probe Microscopy in Materials Science. Those application areas of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) in which the most impact has been made in recent years are covered in the articles in this theme. They include polymers and semiconductors, where scanning force microscopy is now virtually a standard characterization method; magnetism, where magnetic force microscopy has served both as a routine analytical approach and a method for fundamental studies; tribology, where friction force microscopy has opened entirely new vistas of investigation; biological materials, where atomic force microscopy in an aqueous environment allows biosystems to be imaged and measured in a native (or near-native) state; and nanostructured materials, where SPM has often been the only approach capable of elucidating nanostructures. Keywords: atomic force microscopy, biological materials, magnetism, nanostructured materials, polymers, scanning probe microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, semiconductors, tribology.
Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has become a useful tool for characterizing the topography of material surfaces down to the nanometer scale. In that sense, it is a natural—albeit wide-ranging and multifaceted—extension of optical microscopy,1,2 and in just a few decades, it has developed into an extremely useful family of techniques (see Table I, on next page). The field of scanning probe microscopy started in 1981 with the invention of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) by Binnig and Rohrer.3,4 The basic components of scanning probe microscopy are shown for the case of STM in Figure 1. The ability to achieve atomic resolution on the surfaces of metals and semiconductors has turned STM in a short period into an invaluable surface science tool. Together with techniques such as secondaryion mass spectrometry and Auger spectroscopy, STM is a powerful technique for characterizing thin-film growth in molecularbeam epitaxy. Examples include the elucidation of Si-Ge heterostructures, which are discussed in the article by Tomitori and Arai in this issue. STM also offers the possibility of scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS),
MRS BULLETIN/JULY 2004
where valuable information about the local density of states can be gained with far greater spatial resolution than previous ap-
proaches using normal and inverse photoemission. Examples include the ability to determine the surface states of semiconductors and the bandgap in superconductors. One limitation of STM is the necessity for electrical conductivity of the samples. The invention of scanning force microscopy (SFM, or, atomic force microscopy, AFM) by Binnig, Quate, and Gerber in 1986 overcame this limitation,5 bringing about a revolution in materials science. The standard resolution of SFM in the repulsive contact mode is in the nanometer range. With the extension of S
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