Influence of Surface Adsorption on Work Function Measurements on Gold-Platinum Interface Using Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy

Simon Mugo*, Jun Yuan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Surface potential difference (SPD) on freshly coated gold and platinum electrodes have been found to be much smaller than bulk work functions consideration and to be dependent on time. We show these discrepancies arise due to formation of surface dipoles caused by adsorbed contaminants in ambient environments. The process is reversible by gentle annealing consistent with contaminant hypothesis. Examination of potential changes on individual electrodes suggest that the Pt surface is more sensitive to ambient conditions than the Au surface in accordance with their relative chemical activities. The result has great implication for interpretation of Kelvin probe measurements obtained on practical devices exposed to ambient environments.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationELECTRON MICROSCOPY AND ANALYSIS GROUP CONFERENCE 2011 (EMAG 2011)
EditorsG Moebus, T Walther, R Brydson, D Ozkaya, MacLaren, S Donnelly, P Nellist, Z Li, R Baker, YL Chiu
Place of PublicationBRISTOL
PublisherIOP Publishing
Volume371
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
EventConference on Electron-Microscopy-and-Analysis-Group (EMAG) - Birmingham
Duration: 6 Sept 20119 Sept 2011

Publication series

NameJournal of Physics Conference Series
PublisherIOP PUBLISHING LTD
Volume371
ISSN (Print)1742-6588

Conference

ConferenceConference on Electron-Microscopy-and-Analysis-Group (EMAG)
CityBirmingham
Period6/09/119/09/11

Keywords

  • FORCE MICROSCOPY

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