AFM technicques for nanostructured materials used in optoelectronic and gas sensors

Structural and electrical properties of nanostructured materials for optoelectronic and gas sensors have been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The original technique, based on combined conductive AFM, allows analyzing of electrical properties with high lateral resolution. This technique was applied for conductance and homogeneity study of In nanoislands formed on monocrystalline PbTe on Si. Original C-AFM methodic allows performing of localization and evolution of specific conductive areas in In/PbTe nanocontacts. For gas sensitive materials based on tin dioxide the evolution of fractal aggregates can be controlled by thermodynamic and kinetic conditions of sol-gel synthesis. Fundamental evolution steps of fractal systems based on tin dioxide were demonstrated by atomic force microscopy: diffusion-limit aggregation, cluster-cluster aggregation, formation of percolating network and 3D-net nanostructures.