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Concept
Atomic force microscopy
Summary
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very-high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. The information is gathered by "feeling" or "touching" the surface with a mechanical probe. Piezoelectric elements that facilitate tiny but accurate and precise movements on (electronic) command enable precise scanning. Despite the name, the Atomic Force Microscope does not use the Nuclear force.
The AFM has three major abilities: force measurement, topographic imaging, and manipulation.
In force measurement, AFMs can be used to measure the forces between the probe and the sample as a function of their mutual separation. This can be applied to perform force spectroscopy, to measure the mechanical properties of the sample, such as the sample's Young's modulus, a measure of stiffness.
For imaging, the reaction of the probe to the forces that the sample imposes on it can be used to form an image of the three-dimensional shape (topography) of a sample surface at a high resolution. This is achieved by raster scanning the position of the sample with respect to the tip and recording the height of the probe that corresponds to a constant probe-sample interaction (see for more). The surface topography is commonly displayed as a pseudocolor plot.
Although the initial publication about atomic force microscopy by Binnig, Quate and Gerber in 1986 speculated about the possibility of achieving atomic resolution, profound experimental challenges needed to be overcome before atomic resolution of defects and step edges in ambient (liquid) conditions was demonstrated in 1993 by Ohnesorge and Binnig.
Official source
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