Towards standardization of conductive atomic force microscopy

François Piquemal; José Morán-Meza; Petr Klapetek; Jan Martinek; Zhi Li; Bruno Sauvet; Virpi Korpelainen; Steffan Møller Sønderskov; Hüsnü Aslan

doi:10.1039/d6nr01323f

Towards standardization of conductive atomic force microscopy

François Piquemal^*
, José Morán-Meza
, Petr Klapetek
, Jan Martinek
, Zhi Li
, Bruno Sauvet
, Virpi Korpelainen
, Steffan Møller Sønderskov
, Hüsnü Aslan

^*Corresponding author for this work

SU1201 Length metrology

Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d’Essais (LNE)
Czech Metrology Institute (CMI)
German National Metrology Institute (PTB)
Danish National Metrology Institute (DFM)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

This study evaluates the consistency of calibrations across different Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (C-AFM) systems for resistance measurements and investigates the comparability of nanoscale current measurements. The results demonstrate that, irrespective of the C-AFM instrument, current amplifier, or probe type, calibration of the complete measurement system enables accurate resistance measurements over the range from 1 MΩ to 1 TΩ, with standard uncertainties below 1%. For all participants an agreement at the level of 4.8% was found over the same resistance range. Furthermore, calibrated current measurements can be achieved over a wide range from 100 fA to 1 µA, with calibration uncertainties of a few percent at higher currents and approximately 10% to 20% at the lowest current levels. A new method is introduced to determine parasitic resistances within the measurement system, which significantly influence measurements of resistances below 1 MΩ or currents above 10 nA.

Original language	English
Number of pages	12
Journal	Nanoscale
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/d6nr01323f
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 2026
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

Measurements at CMI were funded by Institutional Subsidy for Long-Term Conceptual Development of a Research Organization granted to the Czech Metrology Institute by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. DFM acknowledges funding and support from the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science. This study is a continuation of research carried out in the framework of the ELENA project (EMPIR 20IND12), which was supported by the European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR).

Access to Document

10.1039/d6nr01323fLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{4d9c1e9b2cff44588def3cc61f2f50e0,

title = "Towards standardization of conductive atomic force microscopy",

abstract = "This study evaluates the consistency of calibrations across different Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (C-AFM) systems for resistance measurements and investigates the comparability of nanoscale current measurements. The results demonstrate that, irrespective of the C-AFM instrument, current amplifier, or probe type, calibration of the complete measurement system enables accurate resistance measurements over the range from 1 MΩ to 1 TΩ, with standard uncertainties below 1\%. For all participants an agreement at the level of 4.8\% was found over the same resistance range. Furthermore, calibrated current measurements can be achieved over a wide range from 100 fA to 1 µA, with calibration uncertainties of a few percent at higher currents and approximately 10\% to 20\% at the lowest current levels. A new method is introduced to determine parasitic resistances within the measurement system, which significantly influence measurements of resistances below 1 MΩ or currents above 10 nA.",

author = "Fran{\c c}ois Piquemal and Jos{\'e} Mor{\'a}n-Meza and Petr Klapetek and Jan Martinek and Zhi Li and Bruno Sauvet and Virpi Korpelainen and S{\o}nderskov, \{Steffan M{\o}ller\} and H{\"u}sn{\"u} Aslan",

note = "Publisher Copyright: This journal is {\textcopyright} The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026.",

year = "2026",

doi = "10.1039/d6nr01323f",

language = "English",

journal = "Nanoscale",

issn = "2040-3364",

publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry RSC",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Towards standardization of conductive atomic force microscopy

AU - Piquemal, François

AU - Morán-Meza, José

AU - Klapetek, Petr

AU - Martinek, Jan

AU - Li, Zhi

AU - Sauvet, Bruno

AU - Korpelainen, Virpi

AU - Sønderskov, Steffan Møller

AU - Aslan, Hüsnü

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - This study evaluates the consistency of calibrations across different Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (C-AFM) systems for resistance measurements and investigates the comparability of nanoscale current measurements. The results demonstrate that, irrespective of the C-AFM instrument, current amplifier, or probe type, calibration of the complete measurement system enables accurate resistance measurements over the range from 1 MΩ to 1 TΩ, with standard uncertainties below 1%. For all participants an agreement at the level of 4.8% was found over the same resistance range. Furthermore, calibrated current measurements can be achieved over a wide range from 100 fA to 1 µA, with calibration uncertainties of a few percent at higher currents and approximately 10% to 20% at the lowest current levels. A new method is introduced to determine parasitic resistances within the measurement system, which significantly influence measurements of resistances below 1 MΩ or currents above 10 nA.

AB - This study evaluates the consistency of calibrations across different Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (C-AFM) systems for resistance measurements and investigates the comparability of nanoscale current measurements. The results demonstrate that, irrespective of the C-AFM instrument, current amplifier, or probe type, calibration of the complete measurement system enables accurate resistance measurements over the range from 1 MΩ to 1 TΩ, with standard uncertainties below 1%. For all participants an agreement at the level of 4.8% was found over the same resistance range. Furthermore, calibrated current measurements can be achieved over a wide range from 100 fA to 1 µA, with calibration uncertainties of a few percent at higher currents and approximately 10% to 20% at the lowest current levels. A new method is introduced to determine parasitic resistances within the measurement system, which significantly influence measurements of resistances below 1 MΩ or currents above 10 nA.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105046154973

U2 - 10.1039/d6nr01323f

DO - 10.1039/d6nr01323f

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105046154973

SN - 2040-3364

JO - Nanoscale

JF - Nanoscale

ER -

Towards standardization of conductive atomic force microscopy

Abstract

Funding

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this