Development of a tip enhanced near-field laser ablation system for the sub-micrometric analysis of solid samples. Issue 7 (17th June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jabbour, Chirelle; Lacour, Jean-Luc; Tabarant, Michel; Semerok, Alexandre; Chartier, Frédéric
• Is Part Of: Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry. Volume 31:Issue 7(2016:Jul.)
• Page Start: 1534
• Page End: 1541
• Publication Date: 2016-06-17
• Subjects: Atomic spectra -- Periodicals; Atomic absorption spectroscopy -- Periodicals; 543.0858
• DOI: 10.1039/c6ja00044d
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0267-9477

Abstract

Abstract : Near-field laser ablation development for inorganic solid samples analysis at the nanometer scale. Abstract : A near-field laser ablation system was developed for the analysis of inorganic solid samples in the nanometer resolution range. The instrument is based on the coupling of a nanosecond Nd:YAG laser with an atomic force microscope. The technique uses a tip enhancement effect obtained by the interaction of laser radiation with the conductive tip of the AFM maintained at a few nanometers above the sample surface. By applying this technique to conducting gold and semiconducting silicon samples, a lateral resolution of 100 nm was demonstrated. With a single laser pulse, craters of about 100 nm in diameter and a few nanometers in depth were obtained. A multi-parametric study was carried out in order to understand the effect of different experimental parameters (laser fluence, tip-to-sample distance, sample and tip nature) on the near-field laser ablation efficiency, crater dimensions and amount of ablated material. Numerical simulations of the localized heating with a home-made 3-D code presented a good explanation for the nanometer-sized crater diameters obtained in our experiments.