ELECTRICAL-CONDUCTIVITY MEASUREMENTS WITH SUBMICROMETER LATERAL RESOLUTION

A scanning force microscope (SFM) working in the contact mode and equi pped with a conducting tip was fully exploited for local electrical co nductivity imaging. Thin layers of plasma-deposited Ge-C and ferrocene in a broad range of electrical specific conductivity were investigate d in detail. The contrast observed in electrical current images was fo und to be correlated with powders incorporated into the film matrix. A n attempt was made to detect the structure responsible for electrical transport. However, the samples appeared to be electrically homogeneou s down to a scale of 50 nm. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.