3. Contents/ Outlines
1. Background and History
2. General Applications
3. How Does AFM Work?
4. Parts of AFM
5. THREE Modes: Contact mode,
Non-contact mode, Tapping Mode
4. Contents/ Outlines
6. What are the limitations of AFM?
7. Advantages and Disadvanteges of AFM
8. The future of AFM
5. 1. Background and History
Scanning tunneling microscopy
1981 – Swiss scientists Gerd Binnig
and Heinrich Rohrer
Atomic resolution, simple
1986 – Nobel prize
6. 2. General Applications
1
Materials
Investigated: Thin
and thick film
coatings,
ceramics,
composites,
glasses, synthetic
and biological
membranes,
metals, polymers,
and
semiconductors.
3
AFM can image
surface of
material in
atomic
resolution and
also measure
force at the
nano-Newton
scale.
2
Used to study
phenomena of:
Abrasion,
corrosion,
etching (scratch),
friction,
lubricating,
plating, and
polishing.
9. Tip vibrates (105 Hz) close to specimen surface
(50-150 Å) with amplitude 10-100 nm, May at
times lightly contact surface
Two ways - 'constant force' ……. feedback system
moves tip in z direction to keep force
constant.
'constant height'……. no feedback system -
usually used when surface roughness small
higher scan speeds possible.
3. Continued…
10.
11. Hooke’s Law
x= the vertical
displacement of the
end of the cantilever.
k = the cantilever
spring constant
F = the force acting
On the cantilever
F = -kx
Hooke’s Law
12. 3. 1 Experimental Procedures
Sample preparation
Thin layer of wax on steel disk Measuring
3-D Imaging
Manipulating/Analyzing
14. Scanning the Sample/measure
Tip brought within
nanometers of the sample
(van der Waals)
Radius of tip limits the
accuracy of analysis/
resolution
Stiffer cantilevers protect
against sample damage
because they deflect less in
response to a small force
This means a more
sensitive detection
scheme is needed
17. 4. Parts of AFM
1. Laser – deflected off cantilever
2. Mirror –reflects laser beam to
photo detector
3. Photo detector –dual element
photodiode that measures
differences in light intensity and
converts to voltage
4. Amplifier
5. Register
6. Sample
7. Probe –tip that scans sample
made of Si
8. Cantilever –moves as scanned
over sample and deflects laser
beam
18.
19. 1. Z-Piezo Calibration: by scanning a sample of known
height (calibration grating)
In contact mode
2. Cantilever deflection calibration
3. Cantilever stiffness, k, calibration
Calibration Every month
20. 5. THREE Modes: Contact mode,
Non-contact, mode, Tapping Mode
A.Contact Mode Mode; hard,
stable samples in air or
liquid
B. Non-Contact Mode: non-
invasive sampling.
C. Tapping (Intermittent
contact): No shear and
damaging samples
21. A. Contact Mode
Measures repulsion between tip and sample
Force of tip against sample remains constant
Feedback regulation keeps cantilever deflection
constant
Voltage required indicates height of sample
Problems: excessive tracking forces applied by
probe to sample
22. B. Non-Contact Mode
Measures attractive forces between tip and
sample
Tip doesn’t touch sample
Van der Waals forces between tip and
sample detected
Problems: Can’t use with samples in fluid
Used to analyze semiconductors
Doesn’t degrade or interfere with sample-
better for soft samples
23. C. Tapping (Intermittent-
Contact) Mode
Tip vertically oscillates between contacting sample
surface and lifting of at frequency of 50,000 to
500,000 cycles/sec.
Oscillation amplitude reduced as probe contacts
surface due to loss of energy caused by tip
contacting surface
Advantages: overcomes problems associated with
friction, adhesion, electrostatic forces
More effective for larger scan sizes
24.
25. 6. What are the limitations
of AFM?
AFM imaging is not ideally sharp
28. 8. The future of AFM
Sharper tips by improved micro-fabrication
processes: (tip – sample interaction tends to
distort or destroy soft biological molecules )
development of more flexible cantilever
springs and less damaging and non-sticky
probes needed