Figure 10.

HC topography performance. For morphological benchmarking, an FIB-processed Si-SiO₂-Au (~70 nm) multilayer sample was subjected to tapping-mode measurements with different tips. (a) Height image of a typical uncoated AFM nanoprobe. (b) Result for fully purified HCs in direct comparison with a PtIr-coated AFM tip for electric AFM measurements. (c) Direct comparison of individual features, clearly demonstrating that the topography performance of HCs is practically identical to that of the standard tip (a), with electric conductivity onboard. (d) Three cross-sectional profiles taken from the lines indicated in (a–c) with the same color code. (e) The green-shaded part in (d) presented with more detail, demonstrating the advantages of FEBID-based HCs (blue) compared to commercially available CAFM/EFM tips (red).