Non-Contact Atomic Force Microscopy
Staff: Roland Coratger, Sébastien Gauthier, André Gourdon, Olivier Guillermet, Véronique Langlais, David MartrouPh.D. students & Postdocs: Florian Chaumeton, Antoine Hinaut, Thomas Léoni, Adeline Pujol, Hermann Walch, Loranne Vernisse
Molecular resolution NC-AFM image of the top facet of an island of hexamethoxytriphenylene adsorbed on KBr(001)
Experiments are performed with two types of microscopes:- At room temperature, with silicon cantilevers, with the goal of imaging single molecules adsorged on surfaces of insulators
- At low temperature, with tuning forks (qPlus sensors), with the goal of imaging molecules adsorbed on thin insulating films deposited on metallic surfaces, allowing the simultaneous use of scanning tunnling microscopy.
Constant-height image of the frequency shift above a decastarphene molecule adsorbed on Cu(111) at 5 K.
These nc-afm experiments can be coupled with Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) measurements to characterize electrostatic surface properties such as dipolar moment or charge distributions of an adsorbate on a metallic or insulating substrate. 
(a) Constant frequency shift and (b) Kelvin image of a deposit of hexa(cyanopropyloxy)triphenylene on KBr(001). The Kelvin signal indicates that a dipole pointing toward vacuum is associated with the two types of monolayers that are observed (MLh and MLv).
