Atomic Resolution in Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)

• Grant number: 20/06257-7
• Support type: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - Brazil
• Duration: October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal researcher: Adalberto Fazzio
• Grantee: Adalberto Fazzio
• Visiting researcher: Rodrigo Barbosa Capaz
• Visiting researcher institution: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Instituto de Física (IF), Brazil
• Home Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovações (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/02317-2 - Interfaces in materials: electronic, magnetic, structural and transport properties, AP.TEM

Abstract

Among different experimental techniques of surface analysis with atomic resolution, the set of techniques broadly known as "scanning probe microscopies" (SPM) stand out. In particular, "scanning tunneling microscopy" (STM) and "atomic force microscopy" (AFM), became very popular techniques in this field. Although atomic and subatomic resolution in STM has been achieved since the 1980's, comparable achievements in AFM are much more recent. For this reason, the development of theoretical and modelling techniques for analyzing and understanding AFM in atomic resolution is a subject of current interest. In this project, we combine a variety of theoretical techniques (from ab initio electronic struture methods to fundamental results in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics) to develop tools for analyzing AFM images in atomic or subatomic resolution, with a particular focus on the "friction force microscopy" (FFM) mode of operation. (AU)