Conducting probe atomic force microscopy: A characterization tool for molecular electronics

Electrical characterization of materials has undergone significant progress recently, with the development of a number of atomic force microscopy (AFM ) techniques. In the report is described a new variant-conducting probe AFM (CPAFM)-which uses conducting probes to measure current-voltage relationsh ips and resistances, and which is reported to be ideal for studying electri cal transport on nanometer length scales, in particular for the characteriz ation of organic thin films. Highlights of recent CPAFM measurements on ext remely thin crystals of sexithiophene are presented.