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GaN nanowires as probes for high resolution atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy

Yngman, Sofie LU ; Lenrick, Filip LU orcid ; Liu, Yen-Po LU ; Ren, Zhe LU ; Khalilian, Maryam LU ; Ohlsson, B. J. ; Hessman, Dan LU ; Samuelson, Lars LU ; Timm, Rainer LU orcid and Mikkelsen, Anders LU (2019) In Review of Scientific Instruments 90.
Abstract
GaN nanowires are potential candidates for use in scanning probe microscopy due to their well-defined, reproducible, geometric shapes, their hardness, and their light guiding properties. We have developed and investigated probes for high resolution atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy utilizing GaN nanowires as probes. The nanowires are n-doped and the morphology of the nanowires has been tailored for scanning probe microscopy by growing them with a sharp tip for measurements and high thickness for robustness. The individual GaN nanowires were removed from their growth substrate and attached onto commercial atomic force microscopy cantilevers or etched tungsten wires for scanning tunneling microscopy. A standard... (More)
GaN nanowires are potential candidates for use in scanning probe microscopy due to their well-defined, reproducible, geometric shapes, their hardness, and their light guiding properties. We have developed and investigated probes for high resolution atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy utilizing GaN nanowires as probes. The nanowires are n-doped and the morphology of the nanowires has been tailored for scanning probe microscopy by growing them with a sharp tip for measurements and high thickness for robustness. The individual GaN nanowires were removed from their growth substrate and attached onto commercial atomic force microscopy cantilevers or etched tungsten wires for scanning tunneling microscopy. A standard scanning electron microscope equipped with a nanoprobe, a focused ion beam column and a gas injection system was used to locate, transfer, and attach the nanowires. We evaluated the properties of the GaN probes on different substrates including HOPG, Au, SiO2, InAs, and GaAs. We demonstrate both atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy measurements with single atomic layer resolution and evaluate the robustness of the tips by monitoring them before and after scanning. Finally, we explore the use of the tips for scanning tunneling spectroscopy demonstrating that reliable results, which can reveal information on the electronic properties of the surface-tip system, are obtainable. The fundamental properties of these probes, which are demonstrated in this work, show promise for future use of the probes in exploring semiconductor-semiconductor tunneling junctions at the nanoscale as well as for other scanning probe techniques where high resolution is required. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Review of Scientific Instruments
volume
90
article number
103703
publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85073602098
ISSN
1089-7623
DOI
10.1063/1.5122791
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4c6b31f6-3d06-49d3-909e-d4cb388d9dcd
date added to LUP
2020-05-20 14:06:38
date last changed
2024-02-16 16:12:28
@article{4c6b31f6-3d06-49d3-909e-d4cb388d9dcd,
  abstract     = {{GaN nanowires are potential candidates for use in scanning probe microscopy due to their well-defined, reproducible, geometric shapes, their hardness, and their light guiding properties. We have developed and investigated probes for high resolution atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy utilizing GaN nanowires as probes. The nanowires are n-doped and the morphology of the nanowires has been tailored for scanning probe microscopy by growing them with a sharp tip for measurements and high thickness for robustness. The individual GaN nanowires were removed from their growth substrate and attached onto commercial atomic force microscopy cantilevers or etched tungsten wires for scanning tunneling microscopy. A standard scanning electron microscope equipped with a nanoprobe, a focused ion beam column and a gas injection system was used to locate, transfer, and attach the nanowires. We evaluated the properties of the GaN probes on different substrates including HOPG, Au, SiO2, InAs, and GaAs. We demonstrate both atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy measurements with single atomic layer resolution and evaluate the robustness of the tips by monitoring them before and after scanning. Finally, we explore the use of the tips for scanning tunneling spectroscopy demonstrating that reliable results, which can reveal information on the electronic properties of the surface-tip system, are obtainable. The fundamental properties of these probes, which are demonstrated in this work, show promise for future use of the probes in exploring semiconductor-semiconductor tunneling junctions at the nanoscale as well as for other scanning probe techniques where high resolution is required.}},
  author       = {{Yngman, Sofie and Lenrick, Filip and Liu, Yen-Po and Ren, Zhe and Khalilian, Maryam and Ohlsson, B. J. and Hessman, Dan and Samuelson, Lars and Timm, Rainer and Mikkelsen, Anders}},
  issn         = {{1089-7623}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{American Institute of Physics (AIP)}},
  series       = {{Review of Scientific Instruments}},
  title        = {{GaN nanowires as probes for high resolution atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5122791}},
  doi          = {{10.1063/1.5122791}},
  volume       = {{90}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}