Electrostatic force microscopy of silver nanocrystals with nanometer-scale resolution

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles on graphite basal plane surfaces were concurrently imaged using electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) and noncontact atomic force microscopy. EFM images were obtained having a lateral resolution of 4–5 nm, and a resolution perpendicular to the surface of ≈1 nm. The dependence of the contrast in the EFM data for the silver nanoparticles as a function of the applied tip bias was consistent with a positive charge for the silver nanocrystals on the graphite surface, qualitatively as expected by theory.