Exploring leakage in dielectric films via automated experiment in scanning probe microscopy

TL;DR

This paper presents an automated scanning probe microscopy workflow to study dynamic leakage pathways in dielectric films, revealing transient conductive spots and enabling detailed analysis of their behavior over time.

Contribution

It introduces a universal automated SPM method to investigate leakage in dielectric films, capturing dynamic conductive spot behavior with high spatial and temporal resolution.

Findings

Conductive spots in ferroelectric Hf0.54Zr0.48O2 films can appear and disappear during scanning.

The workflow is adaptable to various microscopy techniques.

Transient conductive pathways are observed in dielectric thin films.

Abstract

Electronic conduction pathways in dielectric thin films are explored using automated experiments in scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Here, we use large field of view scanning to identify the position of localized conductive spots and develop a SPM workflow to probe their dynamic behavior at higher spatial resolution as a function of time, voltage, and scanning process in an automated fashion. Using this approach, we observe the variable behaviors of the conductive spots in a 20 nm thick ferroelectric Hf0.54Zr0.48O2 film, where conductive spots disappear and reappear during continuous scanning. There are also new conductive spots that appear during scanning. The automated workflow is universal and can be integrated into a wide range of microscopy techniques, including SPM, electron microscopy, optical microscopy, and chemical imaging.