Lubricant Film Thickness Mapping Using a Scanning Capacitance Technique with a Nanoscale Lateral Resolution

Ohio State University Research Foundation -Do Not Use, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

An SGER award will support development of a novel scanning capacitance measurement technique for lubricant film thickness mapping on engineering surfaces. It is expected that this technique will allow non-destructive mapping of variations in lubricant thickness as small as 0.1 nm and with a nanoscale lateral resolution. Existing techniques allow measurements only with a microscale lateral resolution. The proposed technique is of great interest in applications where lubricant films of mono-molecular thickness are used. It is expected that the proposed technique, if successful, can be developed for quality control purposes for the $ 100 billion per year magnetic storage industry, the emerging microdevices industry, and other applications using ultra-thin films. An existing AFM will be adapted with a scanning capacitance microscopy module, which will be modified to operate with a sharp, conducting probe. The measurements, as envisioned, will consist of an initial conventional AFM topography scan of the metal surface, followed by a scan in the same track but in the capacitance mode and with the tip at 100 nm height above the metal surface, as controlled by input from the topography scan.