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Investigating atomic details of the CaF2(111) surface with a qPlus sensor

Franz J Giessibl1 and Michael Reichling2

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The (111) surface of CaF2 has been intensively studied with large-amplitude frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy, and the atomic contrast formation is now well understood. It has been shown that the apparent contrast patterns obtained with a polar tip strongly depend on the tip terminating ion, and three sub-lattices of anions and cations can be imaged. Here, we study the details of atomic contrast formation on CaF2(111) with small-amplitude force microscopy utilizing the qPlus sensor that has been shown to provide the utmost resolution at high scanning stability. Step edges resulting from cleaving crystals in situ in the ultra-high vacuum appear as very sharp structures, and on flat terraces the atomic corrugation is seen in high clarity even for large area scans. The atomic structure is also not lost when scanning across triple layer step edges. High-resolution scans of small surface areas yield contrast features of anion- and cation sub-lattices with unprecedented resolution. These contrast patterns are related to previously reported theoretical results.


PACS

68.35.B- Structure of clean surfaces (and surface reconstruction)

61.66.Fn Inorganic compounds

68.37.Ps Atomic force microscopy (AFM)

Subjects

Surfaces, interfaces and thin films

Condensed matter: structural, mechanical & thermal

Dates

Issue 3 (March 2005)

Received 18 November 2004, in final form 15 December 2004

Published 28 January 2005



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