Fabrication of ultra-sharp tips from carbon fiber for scanning tunneling microscopy investigations of epitaxial graphene on 6H-SiC(0001) surface

José A. Morán-Meza; Christophe Lubin; François Thoyer; Kevin A. Villegas-Rosales; Abel A. Gutarra-Espinoza; Frantz Martin; Jacques Cousty

Fabrication of ultra-sharp tips from carbon fiber for scanning tunneling microscopy investigations of epitaxial graphene on 6H-SiC(0001) surface

Fabricación de puntas de fibra de carbono ultrafinas para investigaciones de microscopía de efecto túnel de grafeno epitaxial sobre la superficie de 6H-SiC(0001)

Fabrication de pointes de fibre de carbone ultra-fines pour les enquêtes de microscopie à effet tunnel du graphène épitaxié sur la surface de 6H-SiC(0001)

José A. Morán-Meza ^{1, 2, *} Christophe Lubin ¹ François Thoyer ¹ Kevin A. Villegas-Rosales ² Abel A. Gutarra-Espinoza ² Frantz Martin ³ Jacques Cousty ^{1, *}

* Corresponding author

1 SPEC - UMR3680 - Service de physique de l'état condensé

2 Grupo de Materiales Nanoestructurados

3 LECA - Laboratoire d'Etude de la Corrosion Aqueuse

DPC - Département de Physico-Chimie : DEN/DPC/SCCME/LECA

Abstract : The fabrication of ultra-sharp tips from carbon fiber (CF), which are mounted on a qPlus probe for combined dynamic scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and frequency modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) experiments, is reported. The carbon fiber tips were electrochemically etched in a KOH or NaOH solution, using different electronic devices. CF tips with an apex radius ~10 nm, as deduced from the measured slopes of the Fowler–Nordheim plots (kR < 70 nm for k ~ 6), were routinely obtained with a home-made electronic device that controls the intensity of the etching current. Then, these conductive CF tips were also characterized by imaging the 6H-SiC(0001) surface covered by an epitaxial graphene layer in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). The lattice of the (6R3x6R3)R30° reconstruction was regularly imaged by STM working either in non-oscillating mode or in dynamic mode, which also maps the variations of the force gradient. From these measurements with a constant mean-tunneling-current of 20 pA, it was found that the STM tip suffered variations of the tip/surface force gradient in between 8.25 and 16.50 N/m when it scanned the epitaxial graphene layer on the reconstructed 6H-SiC(0001) surface.

Keywords : Fowler-Nordheim plot graphene carbon fiber AFM STM

Document type :

Journal articles

Domain :

Physics [physics] / Condensed Matter [cond-mat] / Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Physics [physics]

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Contributor : Jose Antonio Moran Meza <>
Submitted on : Friday, February 12, 2016 - 2:55:01 PM
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