Highly Crystalline C8-BTBT Thin-Film Transistors by Lateral Homo-Epitaxial Growth on Printed Templates.

Highly crystalline thin films of organic semiconductors offer great potential for fundamental material studies as well as for realizing high-performance, low-cost flexible electronics. The fabrication of these films directly on inert substrates is typically done by meniscus-guided coating techniques. The resulting layers show morphological defects that hinder charge transport and induce large device-to-device variability. Here, a double-step method for organic semiconductor layers combining a solution-processed templating layer and a lateral homo-epitaxial growth by a thermal evaporation step is reported. The epitaxial regrowth repairs most of the morphological defects inherent to meniscus-guided coatings. The resulting film is highly crystalline and features a mobility increased by a factor of three and a relative spread in device characteristics improved by almost half an order of magnitude. This method is easily adaptable to other coating techniques and offers a route toward the fabrication of high-performance, large-area electronics based on highly crystalline thin films of organic semiconductors.

Nanoparticle-Based Magnetoelectric BaTiO3-CoFe2O4 Thin Film Heterostructures for Voltage Control of Magnetism.

Multiferroic composite materials combining ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order at room temperature have great potential for emerging applications such as four-state memories, magnetoelectric sensors, and microwave devices. In this paper, we report an effective and facile liquid phase deposition route to create multiferroic composite thin films involving the spin-coating of nanoparticle dispersions of BaTiO3, a well-known ferroelectric, and CoFe2O4, a highly magnetostrictive material. This approach offers great flexibility in terms of accessible film configurations (co-dispersed as well as layered films), thicknesses (from 100 nm to several µm) and composition (5-50 wt % CoFe2O4 with respect to BaTiO3) to address various potential applications. A detailed structural characterization proves that BaTiO3 and CoFe2O4 remain phase-separated with clear interfaces on the nanoscale after heat treatment, while electrical and magnetic studies indicate the simultaneous presence of both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order. Furthermore, coupling between these orders within the films is demonstrated with voltage control of the magnetism at ambient temperatures.

A single probe for imaging photons, electrons and physical forces.

The combination of complementary measurement techniques has become a frequent approach to improve scientific knowledge. Pairing of the high lateral resolution scanning force microscopy (SFM) with the spectroscopic information accessible through scanning transmission soft x-ray microscopy (STXM) permits assessing physical and chemical material properties with high spatial resolution. We present progress from the NanoXAS instrument towards using an SFM probe as an x-ray detector for STXM measurements. Just by the variation of one parameter, the SFM probe can be utilised to detect either sample photo-emitted electrons or transmitted photons. This allows the use of a single probe to detect electrons, photons and physical forces of interest. We also show recent progress and demonstrate the current limitations of using a high aspect ratio coaxial SFM probe to detect photo-emitted electrons with very high lateral resolution. Novel probe designs are proposed to further progress in using an SFM probe as a STXM detector.

Nanostructure characterization by a combined x-ray absorption/scanning force microscopy system.

A combined x-ray transmission and scanning force microscope setup (NanoXAS) recently installed at a dedicated beamline of the Swiss Light Source combines complementary experimental techniques to access chemical and physical sample properties with nanometer scale resolution. While scanning force microscopy probes physical properties such as sample topography, local mechanical properties, adhesion, electric and magnetic properties on lateral scales even down to atomic resolution, scanning transmission x-ray microscopy offers direct access to the local chemical composition, electronic structure and magnetization. Here we present three studies which underline the advantages of complementary access to nanoscale properties in prototype thin film samples.

Exploring atomic-scale lateral forces in the attractive regime: a case study on graphite (0001).

A non-contact atomic force microscopy-based method has been used to map the static lateral forces exerted on an atomically sharp Pt/Ir probe tip by a graphite surface. With measurements carried out at low temperatures and in the attractive regime, where the atomic sharpness of the tip can be maintained over extended time periods, the method allows the quantification and directional analysis of lateral forces with piconewton and picometer resolution as a function of both the in-plane tip position and the vertical tip-sample distance, without limitations due to a finite contact area or to stick-slip-related sudden jumps of tip apex atoms. After reviewing the measurement principle, the data obtained in this case study are utilized to illustrate the unique insight that the method offers. In particular, the local lateral forces that are expected to determine frictional resistance in the attractive regime are found to depend linearly on the normal force for small tip-sample distances.

Data acquisition and analysis procedures for high-resolution atomic force microscopy in three dimensions.

Data acquisition and analysis procedures for noncontact atomic force microscopy that allow the recording of dense three-dimensional (3D) surface force and energy fields with atomic resolution are presented. The main obstacles for producing high-quality 3D force maps are long acquisition times that lead to data sets being distorted by drift, and tip changes. Both problems are reduced but not eliminated by low-temperature operation. The procedures presented here employ an image-by-image data acquisition scheme that cuts measurement times by avoiding repeated recording of redundant information, while allowing post-acquisition drift correction. All steps are detailed with the example of measurements performed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite in ultrahigh vacuum at a temperature of 6 K. The area covered spans several unit cells laterally and vertically from the attractive region to where no force could be measured. The resulting fine data mesh maps piconewton forces with <7 pm lateral and<2 pm vertical resolution. From this 3D data set, two-dimensional cuts along any plane can be plotted. Cuts in a plane parallel to the sample surface show atomic resolution, while cuts along the surface normal visualize how the attractive atomic force fields extend into vacuum. At the same time, maps of the tip-sample potential energy, the lateral tip-sample forces, and the energy dissipated during cantilever oscillation can be produced with identical resolution.

Three-dimensional imaging of short-range chemical forces with picometre resolution.

Chemical forces on surfaces have a central role in numerous scientific and technological fields, including catalysis, thin film growth and tribology. Many applications require knowledge of the strength of these forces as a function of position in three dimensions, but until now such information has only been available from theory. Here, we demonstrate an approach based on atomic force microscopy that can obtain this data, and we use this approach to image the three-dimensional surface force field of graphite. We show force maps with picometre and piconewton resolution that allow a detailed characterization of the interaction between the surface and the tip of the microscope in three dimensions. In these maps, the positions of all atoms are identified, and differences between atoms at inequivalent sites are quantified. The results suggest that the excellent lubrication properties of graphite may be due to a significant localization of the lateral forces.