Metrology of electromagnetic static actuation of MEMS microbridge using atomic force microscopy.

The objective of this paper is to describe application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) for characterization and calibration of static deflection of electromagnetically and/or thermally actuated micro-electromechanical (MEMS) bridge. The investigated MEMS structure is formed by a silicon nitride bridge and a thin film metal path enabling electromagnetic and/or thermal deflection actuation. We present how static microbridge deflection can be measured using contact mode AFM technology with resolution of 0.05nm in the range of up to tens of nm. We also analyze, for very small structure deflections and under defined and controlled load force varied in the range up to ca. 32nN, properties of thermal and electromagnetical microbridge deflection actuation schemes.

Investigation of multi-junction solar cells using electrostatic force microscopy methods.

Multi-junction III-V solar cells are designed to have a much broader absorption of the solar spectrum than Si-based or single junctions, thus yield the highest conversion. The conversion efficiency can be further scaled with sun concentration. The ability of high conversion efficiencies makes multi-junction prime candidates for fine-tuning explorations aimed at getting closer to the theoretical efficiencies. In this paper, we report on electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) measurements of the built-in potential of multi-junction III-V semiconductor-based solar cells. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) was employed to qualitatively study the width and electrical properties of individual junctions, i.e., built-in potential, activity, and thickness of the p-n junctions. In addition, the voltage drops across individual solar cell p-n junctions were measured using Kelvin probe microscopy under various operation conditions: dark; illuminated; short-circuit; and biased. We present a method which enables the measurement of a working structure, while focusing on the electrical characteristics of an individual junction by virtue of selecting the spectral range of the illumination used. We show that these pragmatic studies can provide a feedback to improve photovoltaic device design, particularly of operation under a current mismatched situation. This new analysis technique offers additional insights into behavior of the multi-junction solar cell and shows promise for further progress in this field.