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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.08056 |
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| _version_ | 1866917257887612928 |
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| author | Nayyar, Aayush Yang, Ruizhe Gautham, Vashin Das, Sagnik Lin, Haiqing Antony, Andrew C. Thelen, Dean Nath, Mayukh Agnello, Gabriel Liu, Jun |
| author_facet | Nayyar, Aayush Yang, Ruizhe Gautham, Vashin Das, Sagnik Lin, Haiqing Antony, Andrew C. Thelen, Dean Nath, Mayukh Agnello, Gabriel Liu, Jun |
| contents | Contact electrification (CE) remains a critical challenge in advanced material technologies where uncontrolled surface charging can compromise manufacturability, reliability, and performance in practical applications. Ultrathin glass with micrometer-scale thickness is a state-of-the-art specialty oxide material for flexible touchscreens in next-generation electronic devices. Here, we visualize and quantify CE-induced surface charges on ultrathin glass using sideband-mode Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). Nanoscale atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes are used to scan and induce triboelectric charges on stand-alone glass surfaces under ultra-pure N$_2$ conditions. Time-dependent measurements reveal that surface charges on a 30~$μ$m-thick glass sample decay from 4.47~V to 0.37~V over 240~minutes. Furthermore, electrostatic charges are found to exhibit capacitor-like discharging behavior primarily through the bulk material, yielding a long relaxation time constant of approximately 41~minutes. This behavior differs from the lateral surface discharging observed in thermally grown SiO$2$ thin films reported previously. A self-capacitance analytical model is developed to estimate the corresponding surface charge density ($σ$), yielding comparable values of 136.26~$\pm$~16.25~$μ$C/m$^2$ at 30~$μ$m and 131.44~$\pm$~28.41~$μ$C/m$^2$ at 100~$μ$m. Additionally, external bias applied to AFM tips can be used to enhance, suppress, or invert the intrinsic CE response of glass materials. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_08056 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Spatially and Temporally Resolved Mapping of Contact Electrification on Stand-Alone Ultrathin Glass Materials via Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy Nayyar, Aayush Yang, Ruizhe Gautham, Vashin Das, Sagnik Lin, Haiqing Antony, Andrew C. Thelen, Dean Nath, Mayukh Agnello, Gabriel Liu, Jun Applied Physics Materials Science Contact electrification (CE) remains a critical challenge in advanced material technologies where uncontrolled surface charging can compromise manufacturability, reliability, and performance in practical applications. Ultrathin glass with micrometer-scale thickness is a state-of-the-art specialty oxide material for flexible touchscreens in next-generation electronic devices. Here, we visualize and quantify CE-induced surface charges on ultrathin glass using sideband-mode Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). Nanoscale atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes are used to scan and induce triboelectric charges on stand-alone glass surfaces under ultra-pure N$_2$ conditions. Time-dependent measurements reveal that surface charges on a 30~$μ$m-thick glass sample decay from 4.47~V to 0.37~V over 240~minutes. Furthermore, electrostatic charges are found to exhibit capacitor-like discharging behavior primarily through the bulk material, yielding a long relaxation time constant of approximately 41~minutes. This behavior differs from the lateral surface discharging observed in thermally grown SiO$2$ thin films reported previously. A self-capacitance analytical model is developed to estimate the corresponding surface charge density ($σ$), yielding comparable values of 136.26~$\pm$~16.25~$μ$C/m$^2$ at 30~$μ$m and 131.44~$\pm$~28.41~$μ$C/m$^2$ at 100~$μ$m. Additionally, external bias applied to AFM tips can be used to enhance, suppress, or invert the intrinsic CE response of glass materials. |
| title | Spatially and Temporally Resolved Mapping of Contact Electrification on Stand-Alone Ultrathin Glass Materials via Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy |
| topic | Applied Physics Materials Science |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.08056 |