Atomicforcemicroscope(AFM)isabletoproducethree-dimensionaldigitaldatainbothforcemodeandheight-modeanditsapplicationsarenotlimitedtomapthesurfacesofconductingmaterials.Itcanusetheforce-modetoimagetherepulsiveandattractiveforcepatterns.ThecrosssectionsofpolycrystallineCdS/CdTeandamorphoussiliconheterojunctionsolarcellsareobservedwithAFM.Incaseofshortcircuit,themicrostructuresofdifferentlayersinthesamplesareclearlydisplayed.Whenthecellsareopencircuit,thetopographicalimagesarealtered,thepotentialoutlineduetothespacechargeinjunctionregionisobserved.Obviously,AFMcanbeemployedtoinvestigateexperimentallybuilt-inpotentialinjunctionofsemiconductordevices,suchassolarcells.
