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Visualizing subsurface defects in graphite by acoustic atomic force microscopy
Author(s) -
Wang Tian,
Ma Chengfu,
Hu Wei,
Chen Yuhang,
Chu Jiaru
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.22668
Subject(s) - graphite , atomic force microscopy , microscopy , materials science , graphene , acoustic microscopy , oscillation (cell signaling) , nanotechnology , kelvin probe force microscope , nanostructure , heterodyne (poetry) , ultrasonic sensor , optics , acoustics , chemistry , composite material , physics , biochemistry
We describe a versatile platform, which combines atomic force acoustic microscopy, ultrasonic atomic force microscopy and heterodyne force microscopy. The AFM system can enable in‐situ switching among these operation modes flexibly and thus benefit the discrimination of differences in mechanical properties and buried subsurface nanostructures. We demonstrate the potential of this platform for visualizing the subsurface defects of graphite. Our results show that tiny topographic edges are enhanced in acoustic oscillation signals whilst embedded defects and inhomogeneous in mechanical properties are made clearly distinguishable. The possibility of detecting subsurface defects in few‐layer graphene is further discussed with first‐principles calculations. Microsc. Res. Tech. 80:66–74, 2017 . © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.