Decoupling indirect topographic cross-talk in band excitation piezoresponse force microscopy imaging and spectroscopy

All scanning probe microscopies are subjected to topographic cross-talk, meaning the topography-related contrast in functional images. Here, we investigate the signatures of indirect topographic cross-talk in piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) imaging and spectroscopy and its decoupling using band excitation (BE) method in ferroelectric BaTiO₃ deposited on the Si substrates with free standing nanopillars of diameter 50 nm. Comparison between the single-frequency PFM and BE-PFM results shows that the measured signal can be significantly distorted by topography-induced shifts in the contact resonance frequency and cantilever transfer function. However, with proper correction, such shifts do not affect PFM imaging and hysteresis loop measurements. This suggests the necessity of an advanced approach, such as BE-PFM, for detection of intrinsic sample piezoresponse on the topographically non-uniform surfaces.