Electrostatic force microscopy: principles and some applications to semiconductors

The current state of the art of electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) is presented. The principles of EFM operation and the interpretation of the obtained local voltage and capacitance data are discussed. In order to show the capabilities of the EFM method, typical results for semiconducting nanostructures and lasers are presented and discussed. Improvements to EFM and complementary electrical methods using scanning microscopy demonstrate the continuing interest in electrical probing at the nanoscale range.