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Afm, Cafm, And Efm Studies Of The Gan System, John C. Dickinson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses a variety of techniques based on the atomic force microscope (AFM), and their application to the GaN materials system. In particular, the local conductivity and contact potential of surfaces have been measured using the techniques of Conductive AFM (CAFM) and Surface Potential Electric Force Microscopy (SPEFM), respectively. CAFM studies of GaN surfaces have revealed that prismatic planes around islands and pits on surfaces can lead to enhanced conductivity, which may be related to leakage problems in device applications. With regard to SP-EFM work, the change in surface potential associated with inversion domains on Ga-polar GaN has been …