Scanning Probe Microscopy of Functional Materials Surfaces and Interfaces

Pankaj Sharma, Jan Seidel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The field of nanoscience and nanotechnology involves investigation of materials and their technological aspects at the nanometre-length scale (1 nanometre = 10-9 m) and includes diverse disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and life sciences. One of the overarching goals of nanoscience and nanotechnology is imaging, characterization, and high-precision manipulation of atoms, and molecules to achieve desired functionalities for their application in various fields. The realization that both physical and chemical material properties exhibit a pronounced size dependence (due to competing surface and volume effects) has led to an increase in scientific efforts towards the elucidation of their nanoscale characteristics. Besides, there has been a strong emphasis on miniaturization of electronic devices and components to meet ever-increasing demands for future technological applications. For example, over the past decades, the sustained advances in integrated circuit technologies have resulted in computers with powerful processing capabilities due to high speed and high-density memories and processors. However, as the bit sizes are pushed towards the deep sub-100-nm regime, not only the scaling methods of the semiconductor memory industry face increasing challenges associated with large fluctuations in device characteristics (such as the threshold voltage and on/offcurrents) at reduced dimensions, but also require techniques with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution for their characterization. Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) based approaches present a viable way forward for high-resolution characterization of materials and devices at the nanoscale. In this chapter, we review the basics of some of the highly relevant SPM approaches, recent advances, challenges, and their applications with regard to the nanoscale characterization of functional materials surfaces and interfaces.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvanced Materials Interfaces
EditorsAshutosh Tiwari, Hirak K. Patra, Xuemei Wang
PublisherWiley
Chapter3
Pages63-125
Number of pages63
ISBN (Electronic)9781119242604
ISBN (Print)9781119242451
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jul 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Functionalization
  • Nanomaterials
  • Scanning probe microscopy
  • Surface and interfaces

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