Atomic force microscopy features

The FFM based on the atomic force microscopy (AFM) is the most available tool to study the feature of microscale friction and wear of material surface with high resolution [6]. So the... 

High-Resolution scanning electron and atomic force microscopies observation of nanometer features on zeolite Surfaces... 

It is now possible to observe nanometer features on the surfaces of zeolitic materials using high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. By taking ibidem measurements in combination with atomic force microscopy we are able to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of both techniques and judge respective resolving power. 

Summary of Main Features of Atomic Force Microscopy"... 

The effect on structure of confining block copolymers in thin films has been examined, largely using neutron reflectivity and atomic force microscopy. A number of features that result from the constraint of reduced dimensionality have been reported, such as the observation of islands and holes at the surface... 

The oldest microscopy technique for materials analysis was optical microscopy. Even to this day, for feature sizes above 1 pm, this is one of the most popular tools. For smaller features, electron microscopy techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are the tools of choice. A third family of microscopy includes scanning probe tools such as scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). In these relatively recent techniques, sample preparation concerns are of minor importance compared to other problems, such as vibration isolation and processing of atomically sharp probes. Therefore, the latter techniques are not discussed here. This chapter is aimed at introducing the user to general specimen preparation steps involved in optical and electron microscopy [3 7], which to date are the most common... 

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has become a standard technique to image with high resolution the topography of surfaces. It enables one to see nanoscopic surface features while the electrode is under potential control. This powerful probe microscopy operates by measuring the force between the probe and the samples (56,57). The probe consists of a sharp tip (made of silicon or silicon nitride) attached to a force-sensitive cantilever. The tip scans across the surface (by a piezoelectric scanner), and the cantilever deflects in response to force interactions between the tip and the substrate. Such deflection is monitored by bouncing a laser beam off it onto a photodetector. The measured force is attributed to repulsion generated by the overlap of the electron cloud at the probe tip with the electron cloud of surface atoms. 

Atomic force microscopy Visualisation and measurement of surface features... 

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