Electrostatically-blind quantitative piezoresponse force microscopy free of distributed-force artifacts.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Physics

Background:

• Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM) are powerful tools for nanoscale characterization.
• However, electrostatic forces and artifacts complicate the interpretation of PFM and ESM data.
• Accurate quantification of electromechanical properties is crucial for applications in computing, energy storage, and biology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a method for eliminating electrostatic artifacts in PFM and ESM.
• To enable precise mapping of domain structures and dynamics.
• To achieve reliable quantification of local piezoelectric coupling coefficients.

Main Methods:

• Exploitation of an electrostatic blind spot (ESBS) along the PFM cantilever.
• Separation of long-range electrostatic contributions from short-range electromechanical responses.
• Comparison of ESBS-PFM results with interferometric displacement sensing PFM.

Main Results:

• The ESBS method effectively isolates electromechanical signals from electrostatic interference.
• ESBS-PFM results show excellent agreement with state-of-the-art interferometric PFM.
• Absolute quantification of piezoelectric coupling coefficients is achieved, independent of experimental conditions.

Conclusions:

• ESBS-PFM offers a universal approach to eliminate electrostatic artifacts in nanoscale electromechanical measurements.
• This technique enables accurate characterization of domain wall dynamics and hysteretic processes.
• Widespread adoption of ESBS-PFM is expected to revolutionize the quantification of nanoscale electromechanics.