Modeling of NC‐AFM Imaging of Alkanethiols on the Au (111) Surface

Abstract

We investigate the mechanisms of contrast formation in NC‐AFM imaging of self‐assembled monolayers of alkanethiols on the Au (111) surface. Comparing the potential models with implicit and explicit electrostatics, we demonstrate that, similar to the imaging of polar solid surfaces, the electrostatic interaction plays the central role in contrast formation. Careful comparison of several tip models showed that the model of a clean SiO2 tip gives the closest agreement with the experimental data.