Investigation of organic films by atomic force microscopy: Structural, nanotribological and electrical properties

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has found its applications in a wide range of research fields. In this review, we show by examples that atomic force microscopy is a powerful technique to investigate structural, mechanical and electrical properties of organic films. We start with an introduction of AFM instrumentation highlighting AFM developments that are of direct relevance to organic films. Next, we review AFM studies on organic films according to their preparation methods: self-assembly, the Langmuir–Blodgett technique, solution preparation, and thermal evaporation. In the discussion on self-assembled monolayers, we focus on aspects such as structural evolution, load-induced molecular tilting, annealing, and incorporation of conjugated groups. For solution prepared organic films, we stress annealing-induced structural evolution as well as the effects of phase separation/segregation. We also briefly summarize the progress of AFM investigation on Langmuir–Blodgett films and thermally evaporated organic films. We conclude the review by providing some thoughts for future exploration. In particular, atomic force microscopy combined with ultra-flat coplanar nano-electrodes provides a promising platform to isolate single or a small number of molecular features (e.g. vacancies, defects, grain boundaries) in organic films as well as to identify the role of these features at the nanometer scale.