On the capacitance gradient description in Heterodyne Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy

Abstract

Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) probes local surface-potential variations through the electrostatic force between a conductive tip and a surface, which depends on the potential difference and the tip-surface capacitance gradient (CG). In heterodyne KPFM, the oscillating tip is usually treated by combining a bias-modulated electric field with a first-order truncated Taylor-series expansion of the CG. Although convenient, this treatment is limited to a poorly defined small-amplitude regime and leaves the convergence of the series unresolved. Here, we establish a rigorous spectral description of the CG dynamics and of the resulting electrostatic force beyond this approximation. We formulate a non-truncated Taylor-series description of the CG and prove its convergence for a realistic Hudlet-based capacitance model in both monomodal and bimodal motion. In the monomodal case, we show the equivalence between Fourier-series and Taylor-series descriptions, derive explicit expressions for the dominant Fourier coefficients, and introduce order-truncation criteria that replace the usual qualitative notion of a small-amplitude regime. We then extend the formalism to bimodal motion and derive the effective CG coefficients governing the static, first-eigenmode, and second-eigenmode components of the electrostatic interaction. Numerical simulations confirm the convergence of the Taylor-based coefficients toward the Fourier coefficients and support the truncation-regime hierarchy in both configurations. This work establishes the formal basis for describing electrostatic force components and AFM observables in open-loop heterodyne experiments and provides a general framework for CG dynamics in multimode force microscopy involving nonlinear electromechanical coupling and frequency conversion.