Design and implementation of sequential excitation module for high fidelity piezoresponse force microscopy

The acquisition of accurate information through a contact resonance mode is critical for mapping weak electromechanical effect reliably by using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). However, it is very challenging to track resonance frequency shifting when the contact stiffness from the sample varies significantly. In this work, we have developed a sequential excitation (SE) module to enable high fidelity PFM. A customized discrete frequency sweep signal from an arbitrary waveform generator is used for drive excitation so that resonance frequency tracking is no longer necessary. Furthermore, the AC component of the piezoresponse is sampled by using an oscilloscope instead of using lock-in amplifiers. To accommodate high volume of data acquisition, a fast analysis method is also developed to fit the transfer function of the cantilever efficiently on the fly during scanning. Hardware implementation and data processing are described in detail. The capability of our SE module has been demonstrated on an ordinary PMN-PT film via first and second harmonic PFM, as well as a suspended freestanding MoS₂ membrane that is very challenging to probe due to its substantial variation in contact stiffness.