Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) has gradually becomes indispensable tool to investigate local piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties in diverse material systems. However, numerous reports have shown that the PFM signal can originate from several non-piezoelectric origins. Among them, because the electrostatic interaction between the AFM tip/cantilever and sample surface can be readily involved, it can be the most important factor during PFM measurement. In particular, in materials with relatively low piezoelectricity, the situation can be more significant because the PFM signals from weak piezoelectricity can be hidden or buried by the electrostatic interactions. Herein, we examined the significance of the electrostatic interactions induced by the surface potential in PFM. Using piezoelectric and non-piezoelectric materials, we examined how the surface potential-dependent electrostatic interactions can significantly affect the PFM signal. We observed that the electrostatically induced PFM amplitude have a linear relationship with the magnitude of surface potential when the instrumental noise floor is properly considered. Our results demonstrate that electrostatic interactions can be significant and their recognition and minimization are essential during PFM and other AFM-based measurements.

中文翻译：

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压电响应力显微镜中由表面电位引起的静电相互作用的意义

压电响应力显微镜 (PFM) 已逐渐成为研究不同材料系统中局部压电和铁电特性的不可或缺的工具。然而，许多报告表明 PFM 信号可以源自几个非压电源。其中，由于容易涉及 AFM 尖端/悬臂和样品表面之间的静电相互作用，因此它可能是 PFM 测量过程中最重要的因素。特别是，在压电性相对较低的材料中，这种情况可能更为显着，因为来自弱压电性的 PFM 信号可能被静电相互作用隐藏或掩埋。在此，我们研究了 PFM 中由表面电位引起的静电相互作用的重要性。采用压电和非压电材料，我们研究了表面电位相关的静电相互作用如何显着影响 PFM 信号。我们观察到，当适当考虑仪器本底噪声时，静电感应的 PFM 幅度与表面电位的大小呈线性关系。我们的结果表明静电相互作用可能很重要，并且在 PFM 和其他基于 AFM 的测量过程中，它们的识别和最小化是必不可少的。