title: Improving the electrical performance of a conductive atomic force microscope with a logarithmic current-to-voltage converter.
abstract: A new configuration of conductive atomic force microscope (CAFM) is presented, which is based in a standard CAFM where the typical I-V converter has been replaced by a log I-V amplifier. This substitution extends the current dynamic range from 1-100 pA to 1 pA-1 mA. With the broadening of the current dynamic range, the CAFM can access new applications, such as the reliability evaluation of metal-oxide-semiconductor gate dielectrics. As an example, the setup has been tested by analyzing breakdown spots induced in SiO2 layers.
authors.affiliation: Dept. Enginyeria Electronica, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain. lidia.aguilera@uab.cat
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aguilera
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lanza
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Porti
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grifoll
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nafría
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Aymerich