IMR: Development of High Speed SPM for Research and Education

技术摘要扫描探针显微镜自发明以来的25年里，除了一个关键的类别--速度--之外，已经取得了巨大的进步。为了解决这一限制，将开发高速表面特性映射(HSSPM)，允许以高达每秒10帧的速率连续采集图像(比标准系统提高1000倍)。该方法基于商用原子力显微镜和标准测试硬件，利用悬臂梁接触共振和高速数据采集技术，在针尖速度接近1厘米/秒时获得纳米量级的幅度和相位对比度。在开发过程中的初步应用包括以前不切实际的高温合金和集成电路的大面积扫描，以及表面动力学研究，如铁电畴形核和生长机制和动力学。这些增强的功能将作为校园用户设施的一部分公开提供，该设施已经被50多名学术和工业研究人员利用。此外，HSSPM可以很容易地转移到其他地方，因为它与传统和下一代SPM系统兼容。针对大学生、高中教师和高中生的新的外展活动，特别是针对科学和工程领域代表性不足群体的年轻人，将突出高速扫描显微镜成像增强的互动性。扫描探针显微镜在过去的25年里一直是纳米技术的一种使能工具，提供了以纳米级分辨率测量和操纵材料的能力。然而，较慢的运行速度仍然是更广泛应用的一个关键限制，通常每个图像需要4分钟或更长时间。在这项工作中，将开发一台成像速度提高数千倍的高速扫描电子显微镜(HSSPM)，并将其安装在校园用户设施中。这将使表面属性的绘制接近视频速率，这对于需要对大量样品进行大面积扫描和/或快速测量的学术和工业研究至关重要。值得注意的是，HSSPM还将使以前无法获得的材料性能纳米级动力学研究成为可能，包括温度对聚合物复合材料(在汽车零部件中越来越常见)的影响，以及铁电薄膜(下一代数据存储材料)的最终读/写速度和密度。最后，高速成像具有特别的互动性，因此将在本科生、高中教师和高中生的教学和演示中发挥作用，特别是为了接触到工程学中代表性不足的群体。

Technical abstractScanning Probe Microscopy has advanced tremendously in the 25 years since its invention except in one crucial category?speed. To address this limitation high speed surface property mapping (HSSPM) will be developed, allowing continuous image acquisition at rates up to 10 frames per second (1000x improvement over standard systems). Based on a commercial atomic force microscope and standard test and measurement hardware, this method employs recent advances with cantilever contact resonances and high speed data acquisition for nanoscale amplitude and phase contrast at tip velocities approaching one cm/sec. Initial applications during development include previously impractical large area scanning on high temperature alloys and integrated circuits, as well as surface dynamics studies such as ferroelectric domain nucleation and growth mechanisms and kinetics. These enhanced capabilities will be openly available as part of a campus user facility already leveraged by more than 50 academic and industrial researchers. Furthermore, HSSPM is readily transferrable elsewhere as it is compatible with both legacy and next generation SPM systems. The enhanced interactivity of high speed SPM imaging will feature in new outreach activities for undergraduates, high school teachers, and high school students, particularly targeting youth from underrepresented groups in science and engineering. Lay abstractScanning Probe Microscopy has been an enabling tool for nanotechnology over the past 25 years, providing the capability to measure and manipulate materials with nanoscale resolution. However, slow operating speeds remain a crucial limitation for more widespread application, typically requiring 4 minutes or more per image. In this work, a high speed SPM (HSSPM) with a several thousand-fold improvement in imaging rates will be developed and installed in a campus user-facility. This will allow nearly video-rate mapping of surface properties, crucial for academic and industrial research requiring large area scanning and/or rapid measurements on numerous samples. Significantly, HSSPM will also enable previously inaccessible research on the nanoscale dynamics of materials properties, including the influence of temperature on polymer composites (increasingly common in automobile components) and ultimate read/write speeds and densities for ferroelectric thin films (next generation data storage materials). Finally, high speed imaging is especially interactive, and will therefore feature in teaching and demonstrations for undergraduates, high school teachers, and high school students, particularly to reach underrepresented groups in engineering.