Method of Surface Energy Investigation by Lateral AFM: Application to Control Growth Mechanism of Nanostructured NiFe Films

A new method for the specific surface energy investigation based on a combination of the force spectroscopy and the method of nanofriction study using atomic force microscopy was proposed. It was shown that air humidity does not affect the results of investigation by the proposed method as opposed to the previously used methods. Therefore, the method has high accuracy and repeatability in air without use of climate chambers and liquid cells. The proposed method has a high local resolution and is suitable for investigation of the specific surface energy of individual nanograins or fixed nanoparticles. The achievements described in the paper demonstrate one of the method capabilities, which is to control the growth mechanism of thin magnetic films. The conditions for the transition of the growth mechanism of thin NiFe films from island to layer-by-layer obtained via electrolyte deposition have been determined using the proposed method and the purpose made probes with Ni coating.