Electrostatic force microscopy with a self-sensing piezoresistive cantilever

We present a new method for electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) using a pi ezoresistive cantilever instead of the conventional cantilever with an opti cal detector. In EFM with a piezoresistive cantilever, the electrostatic fo rce between the tip and the sample is monitored by sensing the change in th e resistance of the piezoresistive cantilever at a frequency of several ten s of kHz. A large stray capacitance effect can be rejected by using an appr opriate phase tuning of the phase-sensitive detection. We observed the ferr oelectric domain images of a triglycine sulfate single crystal. We could al so write fine patterns on a lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) thin film through domain reversal by applying various dc voltages between the tip and the sa mple. We suggest that the EFM technique using a self-sensing and self-actua ting piezoresisitive cantilever can be applied to a high-density data stora ge field.