Lateral force microscopy and force modulation microscopy on SILAR-grown lead sulfide samples

In this study lateral force microscopy LFM.and force modulation FM.microscopy have been used for investigations on PbS thin films deposited on glass substrates with the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method SILAR.. Information of friction and surface elasticity obtained by scanning force microscopy revealed local surface properties of the thin films, which have been used to distinguish thin film constituents from environmental contamination andror contamina- tion due to the preparation process. Furthermore, these scanning force microscopy SFM.applications yielded information about the surface coverage which is particularly important in the early stages of film deposition. q1997 Elsevier Science B.V.