Bulk copper deposition on gold studied in an EC-AFM application using the FlexAFM

This report effectively demonstrates the ability of the FlexAFM to monitor morphological changes during electrodeposition of material on an electrode surface.

In the data shown here, copper was deposited on a flame annealed gold surface. The deposition process was shown to be fully reversible: At low potentials copper was deposited and at higher potentials it was dissolved again. Deposition and dissolution took place very rapidly (within one AFM scan line in the image below).

Topography (derived data) of a gold substrate during bulk deposition of copper. The top 1/6th of the image shows the bare gold surface, whereas the bottom 5/6th of the image shows the subsequently deposited copper.

For a detailed report, please download the full application note as a PDF below.

View application note (PDF)

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Industrial solutions

In addition to our standard products we can design and develop custom-built atomic force microscope systems, stages, and parts. A dedicated team of highly qualified engineers is ready to create the optimal solution for your industrial application. For a first impression of what we can do, have a look at these examples.

Flex-Axiom — AFM for materials research

By advancing key technologies and designs, Nanosurf has made the Flex-Axiom one of the most versatile and flexible atomic force microscopes ever, allowing a large variety of materials research applications to be handled with ease. Together with the powerful C3000 controller, complex material characterizations are possible.

Flex-Bio — AFM for biology and life science

A key success factor in life science research is the combination of multiple techniques. With the Flex-Bio, Nanosurf's Bio AFM, you can combine the AFM imaging, spectroscopy and nanomanipulation capabilities of this system with the high-end optical imaging techniques available for inverted microscopes.