Atomic force acoustic microscopy characterization of nanostructured selenium-tin thin films

Nanostructured tin selenide based ultrathin films have been deposited on fused quartz substrates by thermal evaporation. The morphological and structural properties of the obtained polycrystalline SnSe films have been routinely characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and small-area electron diffraction (SAED). The atomic force acoustic microscopy (AFAM) technique has been used in order to perform a preliminary characterization of the local elastic properties of a film surface. The reported results represent our first attempt to explore the capability of the AFAM technique to discriminate between different phases in such nanostructured compounds.