Characterisation of nanocrystals by scanning capacitance force microscopy

Scanning capacitance force microscopy is used to localise Sn nanometer sized structures embedded in a silicon oxide thin film. The capacitance variation occurring between probe and sample in presence of a metallic cluster modifies the oscillation amplitude of the AFM probe at twice the frequency of the applied voltage. The extreme localisation of the interaction due to the small geometries involved allows a lateral resolution of few nm. Issues related to the contrast mechanism are discussed with the support 2D finite element calculation of the electric field distribution between probe and sample.