Lagrangian and Impedance-Spectroscopy Treatments of Electric Force Microscopy

Abstract

Techniques for scanning probe microscopy based on electrostatic forces have revealed the fates of charges in a broad array of semiconductor electronic and photovoltaic devices. Recent experiments, however, have called into question the equations widely used to describe these experiments. To remedy this situation, the authors conduct a rigorous analysis of the coupled electromechanical motion of cantilever position, cantilever charge, and sample charge during an electrostatic force microscope experiment. Their results should inspire researchers to rethink such experiments, and reconsider what the resulting data are telling them about charge motion in their materials.