Contacting modes

Fig. XVin-3. AFM image of DNA strands on mica. Lower figure image obtained in the contact mode under water. The contrast shown covers height variations in the range of 0-2 nm. Upper figure observed profile along the line A-A of the lower figure. (From S. N. Magnov and M.-H. Whangbo, Surface Analysis with STM and AFM, VCH, New Yoric, 1996.)...

An example of a contact mode of electromodulation would be the semiconduc-tor-insulator-metal configuration, which consists of a semiconductor, about 200 A of an insulator like AI2O3, and a semitransparent metal (about 50 A of Ni or Au). Modulating (ac) and bias (dc) voltages are applied between the front semitransparent metal and a contact on the back of the sample. To employ this mode the sample must be conducting. 

Two types of ultrasonic systems are available that can be used for predictive maintenance structural and airborne. Both provide fast, accurate diagnosis of abnormal operation and leaks. Airborne ultrasonic detectors can be used in either a scanning or contact mode. As scanners, they are most often used to detect gas pressure leaks. Because these instruments are sensitive only to ultrasound, they are not limited to specific gases as are most other gas leak detectors. In addition, they are often used to locate various forms of vacuum leaks. 

In the contact mode, a metal rod acts as a waveguide. When it touches a surface, it is stimulated by the high frequencies, ultrasound, on the opposite side of the surface. This technique is used to locate turbulent flow and or flow restriction in process piping. 

According to the distance from probe to the sample, three operation modes can be classified for the AFM. The first and foremost mode of operation is referred to as contact mode or repulsive mode. The instrument lightly touches the sample with the tip at the end of the cantilever and the detected laser deflection measures the weak repulsion forces between the tip and the surface. Because the tip is in hard contact with the surface, the stiffness of the lever needs to be less than the effective spring constant holding atoms together, which is on the order of 1 — 10 nN/nm. Most contact mode levers have a spring constant of <1 N/m. The defection of the lever can be measured to within 0.02 nm, so for a typical lever force constant at 1 N/m, a force as low as 0.02 nN could be detected [50]. 

To minimize effects of friction and other lateral forces in the topography measurements in contact-modes AFMs and to measure topography of the soft surface, AFMs can be operated in so-called tapping mode [53,54]. It is also referred to as intermittent-contact or the more general term Dynamic Force Mode" (DFM). A stiff cantilever is oscillated closer to the sample than in the noncontact mode. Part of the oscillation extends into the repulsive regime, so the tip intermittently touches or taps" the surface. Very stiff cantilevers are typically used, as tips can get stuck" in the water contamination layer. The advantage of tapping the surface is improved lateral resolution on soft samples. Lateral forces... 

In 1999, Luo and Domfeld [110] proposed that there are two typical contact modes in the CMP process, i.e., the hydro-dynamical contact mode and the solid-solid contact mode [110]. When the down pressure applied on the wafer surface is small and the relative velocity of the wafer is large, a thin fluid film with micro-scale thickness will be formed between the wafer and pad surface. The size of the abrasive particles is much smaller than the thickness of the slurry film, and therefore a lot of abrasive particles are inactive. Almost all material removals are due to three-body abrasion. When the down pressure applied on the wafer surface is large and the relative velocity of the wafer is small, the wafer and pad asperity contact each other and both two-body and three-body abrasion occurs, as is described as solid-solid contact mode in Fig. 44 [110]. In the two-body abrasion, the abrasive particles embedded in the pad asperities move to remove materials. Almost all effective material removals happen due to these abrasions. However, the abrasives not embedded in the pad are either inactive or act in three-body abrasion. Compared with the two-body abrasion happening in the wafer-pad contact area, the material removed by three-body abrasion is negligible. 

Since the first AFM applications, researchers have examined so-called force curves. In the contact mode, these are deflection-versus-distance (DvZ) curves, as seen in Figure 20.2a. Initially, DvZ curves were employed to check whether a particular deflection set point used for imaging corresponds to a net repulsive or net attractive force [25]. This curve can also be obtained in tapping mode... 

The amplitude drops to zero when the sample is moved from the point of first contact on a distance of the half of the full amplitude of the free-oscillating probe. From this point, a further motion of the sample will cause the cantilever bending upward, similar to what occurred in the contact mode. If the sample motion is reversed the amplitude increases as shown by a dashed curve in Figure 20.2c. 

In contact mode, liquids are virtually impossible to image, because the mechanical contact of the tip deforms the surface. It is also possible for the liquid to wet the tip and form a capillary neck around it. 

Scanning force microscopy (SFM) is the only tool that allows one to image S-layer protein monolayers on solid supports at molecular resolution (Fig. lb and c) [22-25]. In particular, SFM in contact mode under water with loading forces in the range of <500 pN leads to an image resolution in the subnanometer range (0.5-1.0 nm). 

In the contact mode, the tip is within a few angstroms of the surface, and the interaction between them is determined by the interactions between the individual atoms in the tip and on the surface. 

The second mode of operation is the non-contact mode, in which the distance between tip and sample is much larger, between 2 and 30 nm. In this case one describes the forces in terms of the macroscopic interaction between bodies. Magnetic force microscopy, in which the magnetic domain structure of a solid can be imaged, is an example of the non-contact mode operation. 

A third mode, which has recently become the standard for work on surfaces that are easily damaged, is in essence a hybrid between contact and non-contact modes, and is sometimes called the tapping mode. In this case the cantilever is brought into oscillation such that the tip just touches the surface at the maximum deflection towards the sample. When the oscillating cantilever approaches the maximum deflection, it starts to feel the surface and the oscillation becomes damped, which is... 

In this section, we will describe some experiments which we have performed using the above-mentioned nano-Raman microscope. Figure 2.6a shows the Raman spectmm of an adenine nanocrystal of height 7 nm and width 30 nm [19]. Several Raman bands are observed as the probe tip is near enough to the sample (AFM operation is made in contact mode). These bands, except the one appearing at 924 cm, are assigned as the vibrational modes, inherent to the adenine molecule, according to the molecular orbital calculation. For examples, two major bands, one at... 

Moreover, we have found temporal fluctuation in TERS spectra of an adenine nanocrystal when we left the silver-coated cantilever (operated in contact mode) on the surface of the nanocrystal for 600 s [27]. Figure 2.11a shows a waterfall plot of a... 

FIGURE 6.2 Diagrams of different AFM operating modes. (A) Contact mode and (B) dynamic mode for topographic imaging. (C) Force spectroscopy mode for interaction probing. Reprinted with permission from Liu and Wang (2010). 

Consequently, the lateral force between the tip and sample can be significantly reduced (Fig. 6.2B). Traditionally, contact mode typically could provide higher resolution, but recent advances in noncontact techniques have led to spatial resolution up to the atomic level in vacuums and liquids (Fukuma et al., 2005 Giessibl, 2003 Sugimoto et ah, 2007). Therefore, dynamic mode is preferred for soft and unstable samples. 

The dynamic imaging mode can be further classified into two subcategories intermittent contact mode (also known as tapping mode) and noncontact mode. In both techniques, the AFM tip is attached to the end of an oscillating cantilever. For the intermittent contact technique, the cantilever is vibrated near its resonance frequency. The amplitude of the oscillation is typically 100-200 nm with the tip intermittently contacting... 

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