Lubricant Film Thickness Mapping Using a Scanning Capacitance Technique with a Nanoscale Lateral Resolution

SGER奖将支持开发一种新型扫描电容测量技术，用于在工程表面上绘制润滑油膜厚度图。预计这项技术将允许对润滑油厚度变化进行无损测绘，小至0.1 nm，并具有纳米级的横向分辨率。现有技术只能进行微尺度横向分辨率的测量。所提出的技术在使用单分子厚度的润滑膜的应用中具有很大的兴趣。研究人员预计，如果这项技术取得成功，可以用于每年价值1000亿美元的磁存储行业、新兴的微器件行业和其他使用超薄薄膜的应用领域的质量控制。现有的AFM将采用扫描电容显微镜模块，该模块将被修改为使用锋利的导电探针。正如设想的那样，测量将包括对金属表面进行初始的传统AFM形貌扫描，然后在相同的轨道上进行扫描，但在电容模式下，尖端位于金属表面上方100纳米的高度，由形貌扫描的输入控制。

An SGER award will support development of a novel scanning capacitance measurement technique for lubricant film thickness mapping on engineering surfaces. It is expected that this technique will allow non-destructive mapping of variations in lubricant thickness as small as 0.1 nm and with a nanoscale lateral resolution. Existing techniques allow measurements only with a microscale lateral resolution. The proposed technique is of great interest in applications where lubricant films of mono-molecular thickness are used. It is expected that the proposed technique, if successful, can be developed for quality control purposes for the $ 100 billion per year magnetic storage industry, the emerging microdevices industry, and other applications using ultra-thin films. An existing AFM will be adapted with a scanning capacitance microscopy module, which will be modified to operate with a sharp, conducting probe. The measurements, as envisioned, will consist of an initial conventional AFM topography scan of the metal surface, followed by a scan in the same track but in the capacitance mode and with the tip at 100 nm height above the metal surface, as controlled by input from the topography scan.