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Near-field Microscopy

Published on 28 October 2022
Scanning Probe Microscopies

Local probe microscopies (STM, non contact-AFM, Kelvin Force Probe Microscopy) are intensively used in our laboratory to investigate the molecular conformation, self-assembly processes and electronic properties of functional organic materials. These past years, a highly advanced level of expertise has been reach in our group, with several state of the art reports including the first direct imaging of charge carrier generation in photovoltaic donor-acceptor blends by nc-AFM/SKPM with sub-10nm nanometer resolution.

UHV VT-STM/AFM at SPrAM

       

STM image of a self-assembled sub- monolayer P3DDT film on HOPG. Low current STM, It = 1pA, Vgap = +1.9.V.

F. Fuchs et al., Phys Rev B88 (2013).

non-contact AFM (UHV, 300K) image of edge-on pi-stacked self-assembled molecular wires on HOPG.

B. Grévin et al., Adv. Mater. 21 4124 (2009).

 

Composite image of the topography (z levels) and surface photo-potential (color) under 532nm illumination on a nano-phase segregated P3HT :PCBM blend. The SPV image has been reconstructed by calculating the difference between the surface potential probed by KPFM under illumination and in dark.

E. J. Spadafora et al., Nano Lett.10 3337 (2010).