A Method for Reconstructing the Potential Profile of Surfaces Coated with a Dielectric Layer

• Published in: Moscow University physics bulletin 2020, Vol.75 (1), p.70-75
• Main Authors: Bozhev, I. V., Trifonov, A. S., Presnov, D. E., Dagesyan, S. A., Dorofeev, A. A., Tsiniaikin, I. I., Krupenin, V. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustics; Chromium; Dielectric strength; Electric fields; Electronics; Field effect transistors; Film thickness; Frequencies; Mathematical and Computational Physics; Microscopes; Nanowires; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Radiophysics; Scanning probe microscopes; Semiconductor devices; Theoretical; Thin films
• ISSN: 0027-1349; 1934-8460
• DOI: 10.3103/S0027134920010063

We propose a method of signal amplification for the scanning probe microscope mode, in which the distribution of the surface potential of a sample is measured simultaneously with topography using a local probe based on a field-effect transistor with a nanowire channel. The application of a method is especially relevant in the study of the electric potential of the surface in the case when it is covered with a dielectric layer that strongly weakens the electric field of the detected electric charges. A key feature of the method is in additional coating the surface of the dielectric layer with thin film of chromium ( k ; a film thickness is nm). This film consists of small conductive granules separated by tunnel barriers. It was experimentally shown on the fabricated test structures that a signal attenuated by a dielectric layer can be restored by . We estimated the sensitivity of transistors integrated into the probe of a scanning probe microscope in the range of mV in single frequency band at a frequency of Hz.