Scanning Thermo-ionic Microscopy: Probing Nanoscale Electrochemistry via Thermal Stress-induced Oscillation

TL;DR

This paper introduces scanning thermo-ionic microscopy (STIM), a novel nanoscale imaging technique that uses thermal stress-induced oscillations to probe local electrochemistry, overcoming limitations of traditional methods.

Contribution

The paper presents STIM, a new method that enables in-operando nanoscale electrochemical imaging by leveraging stress-driven ionic oscillations insensitive to electrical artifacts.

Findings

STIM effectively images local electrochemistry at 10-100 nm scales.

STIM responses are unaffected by electromechanical and electrostatic effects.

The technique allows real-time in-operando electrochemical analysis.

Abstract

A universal challenge facing the development of electrochemical materials is our lack of understanding of physical and chemical processes at local length scales in 10-100 nm regime, and acquiring this understanding requires a new generation of imaging techniques. In this article, we introduce the scanning thermo-ionic microscopy (STIM) for probing local electrochemistry at the nanoscale, using for imaging the Vegard strain induced via thermal stress excitations. Since ionic oscillation is driven by the stress instead of voltage, the responses are insensitive to the electromechanical, electrostatic, and capacitive effects, and they are immune to global current perturbation, making in-operando testing possible.