Relative Humidity in Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (KAUST)


A new technical paper titled "The Effect of Relative Humidity in Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy" was published by researchers at KAUST. Abstract "Conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) analyzes electronic phenomena in materials and devices with nanoscale lateral resolution, and it is widely used by companies, research institutions, and universities. Most data published in the field o... » read more

Steps to Fabricate Nanotips Overhanging From Chip Edge By a Few Micrometers (CNRS, CEA-Leti)


A new technical paper titled "Suspended tip overhanging from chip edge for atomic force microscopy with an optomechanical resonator" was published by researchers at Lab. d'Analyse et d'Architecture des Systèmes du CNRS and CEA-LETI. Abstract Raising the mechanical frequency of atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes to increase the measurement bandwidth has been a long-standing expectation in... » read more

Finely Tuning The Electronic Band Structure of WSe2 With AFM


A technical paper titled “Strain Driven Electrical Bandgap Tuning of Atomically Thin WSe2” was published by researchers at University of Toronto, University of Tokyo,  and Stanford University. Abstract: "Tuning electrical properties of 2D materials through mechanical strain has predominantly focused on n-type 2D materials like MoS2 and WS2, while p-type 2D materials such as WSe2 remain... » read more

Friction Between Single Layer Graphene And An Atomic Force Microscope Tip


A technical paper titled “Dynamically tuning friction at the graphene interface using the field effect” was published by researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of California Irvine. Abstract: "Dynamically controlling friction in micro- and nanoscale devices is possible using applied electrical bias between contacting surfaces, but this can also induce unwant... » read more

Latest Discoveries in the Mechanics of 2D Materials


A new technical paper titled "Recent advances in the mechanics of 2D materials" was published by researchers at McGill University, University of Science and Technology of China, and University of Illinois. "We review significant advances in the understanding of the elastic properties, in-plane failures, fatigue performance, interfacial shear/friction, and adhesion behavior of 2D materials. I... » read more

Measuring 3D Sidewall Topography & LER for Photoresist Patterns Using Tip-Tilting AFM Technology


A new technical paper titled "Enhancing the precision of 3D sidewall measurements of photoresist using atomic force microscopy with a tip-tilting technique" by researchers at National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). "We have developed a technique for measuring the sidewall of the resist pattern using atomic for... » read more

E-beam’s Role Grows For Detecting IC Defects


The perpetual march toward smaller features, coupled with growing demand for better reliability over longer chip lifetimes, has elevated inspection from a relatively obscure but necessary technology into one of the most critical tools in fab and packaging houses. For years, inspection had been framed as a battle between e-beam and optical microscopy. Increasingly, though, other types of insp... » read more

Atomic Force Microscopy Covers The Landscape Of Polymer Characterization


"Materials scientists designing a polymer-based material for a specific application must analyze how and why all these factors come together to impact the final product. Understanding the structure and properties at the microscopic level is critical to a complete understanding of the material. “Everybody wants to make their materials perform better at the macroscale,” says Bede Pittenger, a... » read more

Improving Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)


Research paper "Enhancing sensitivity in atomic force microscopy for planar tip-on-chip probes" from Eindhoven University of Technology, Lorraine University and DRF/IRAMIS/SPEC-LEPO, Centre CEA de Saclay. Abstract "We present a new approach to tuning-fork-based atomic force microscopy for utilizing advanced “tip-on-chip” probes with high sensitivity and broad compatibility. Usually, s... » read more

Angstrom-Level Measurements With AFMs


Competition is heating up in the atomic force microscopy (AFM) market, where several vendors are shipping new AFM systems that address various metrology challenges in packaging, semiconductors and other fields. AFM, a small but growing field that has been under the radar, involves a standalone system that provides surface measurements on structures down to the angstrom level. (1 angstrom = 0... » read more

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