Reconstruction of electrostatic force microscopy image for nanoscale potential distributions with potential steps

Given the stray capacitance between the probe and sample surface, electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) suffers from the probe averaging effect of electrostatic signals for measuring nanoscale potential distributions. A method for reconstructing an EFM image is presented by using the step response function (SRF) as the system transfer function. The SRF is constructed numerically by conducting finite element method simulations and reconsidering both the probe shape and tip-sample distance. The deconvolution of the probe averaging effect for the electrostatic image is demonstrated using an elaborated sample of graphene ribbons that are used as nanoscale surface potential steps. The lateral resolution of the electrostatic image is improved via deconvolution. The results present a powerful tool for explaining the EFM image to reduce the probe averaging effect effectively, especially for the sample with nanoscale potential steps.