Study of interaction between silicon surfaces in dilute ammonia peroxide mixtures (APM) and their components using atomic force microscope (AFM)

Force measurements have been conducted between H-terminated Si surface and Si tip in DI-water, NH4OH:H2O (1:100), H2O2:H2O (1:100) and NH4OH:H2O2:H2O (1:1:100–1:1:500) solutions as a function of immersion time using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The approach force curve results show attractive forces in DI-water, NH4OH:H2O (1:100) and H2O2:H2O (1:100) solutions at separation distances of less than 10 nm for all immersion times (2, 10 and 60 min) investigated in this study. In the case of dilute ammonia–hydrogen peroxide mixtures, the interaction forces are purely repulsive within 2 min of immersion time.The adhesion forces have also been measured between the surface and the tip in DI-water, NH4OH:H2O (1:100) and H2O2:H2O (1:100) solutions. The magnitude of the adhesion force is in the range of 0.8–10.5 nN in these solutions. In dilute APM solutions, no adhesion force is measured between the surface and the tip and repulsive forces dominated at all separation distances.