Cantilever signature of tip detachment during contact resonance AFM

• Devin Kalafut,
• Ryan Wagner,
• Maria Jose Cadena,
• Anil Bajaj and
• Arvind Raman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1286–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.96

• connect the qualitative and quantitative behavior to experimental features. Keywords: atomic force microscopy (AFM); contact resonance; nonlinear normal mode (NNM); tip–sample detachment; photothermal excitation; Introduction Contact resonance atomic force microscopy (CR-AFM) [1][2], piezoresponse force

• Asylum Research’s blueDrive photothermal excitation module for laser-based excitation of the cantilever. The optical lever sensitivity (OLS) corresponding to the static cantilever beam shape with a point load at the tip was calculated from a force displacement curve [32] on the silicon sample. The

• indentation coefficient, and P is the parameter controlling the probe tip geometry. Photothermal excitation of the AFM cantilever is approximated as a pair of opposing bending moments centered at the laser spot location LbD, measured from the base of the cantilever, and separated from each other by the laser

Review of time-resolved non-contact electrostatic force microscopy techniques with applications to ionic transport measurements

• Aaron Mascaro,
• Yoichi Miyahara,
• Tyler Enright,
• Omur E. Dagdeviren and
• Peter Grütter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 617–633, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.62

• resolution [51]. They presented guidelines for implementation of their technique, in particular the use of photothermal excitation to reduce other sources of mechanical noise. To study the relationship between the system dynamics and the measured tFP response they mapped tFP as a function of true exponential

• (interferometry, for example [53]) and cleaner excitation schemes such as photothermal excitation [54]. Using probes of higher stiffness, however, is not expected to be advantageous due to the inverse relationship between the measured phase shift and cantilever spring constant. Validation measurement To

Quantitative comparison of wideband low-latency phase-locked loop circuit designs for high-speed frequency modulation atomic force microscopy

• Kazuki Miyata and
• Takeshi Fukuma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1844–1855, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.176

• excited and detected using a highly stable custom-built photothermal excitation system and low-noise optical beam deflection sensor, respectively [27][28][29][30]. The noise spectra shown below in Figure 8 were obtained using the commercially available AFM controller (ARC2, Asylum Research). Sample

Electrostatically actuated encased cantilevers

• Benoit X. E. Desbiolles,
• Gabriela Furlan,
• Adam M. Schwartzberg,
• Paul D. Ashby and
• Dominik Ziegler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1381–1389, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.130

• fluid. Magnetic excitation [13][14][15] or photothermal excitation [16][17][18][19] are more common in liquids, but require specialized instruments. Although frequently applied in microelectromechanical systems, electrostatic actuation is rarely used in scanning probe force microscopy. Reliable

• . Substantially stiffer cantilevers would have too small of an amplitude leading to a similar practical bandwidth of ca. 5 MHz. This is far greater than magnetic and piezo actuation techniques and similar to photothermal excitation. Influence of the encasement The capacitor between the encasement and the sample

• interpretation of tip–sample interactions. The advantages over photothermal excitation are that no additional optical components or alignment procedures are required and that the cantilever does not get heated. With the used geometry and high stiffness, we achieve excitation of sub-nanometer amplitudes with high

Noise in NC-AFM measurements with significant tip–sample interaction

• Jannis Lübbe,
• Matthias Temmen,
• Philipp Rahe and
• Michael Reichling

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1885–1904, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.181

• speculate that the low-frequency deviation is caused by mechanical instabilities within the system, or by instabilities within the piezoelectric excitation system. For example, low-frequency noise has been observed when using photothermal excitation [23]. Disabling the amplitude control loop results in a

Generalized Hertz model for bimodal nanomechanical mapping

• Aleksander Labuda,
• Marta Kocuń,
• Waiman Meinhold,
• Deron Walters and
• Roger Proksch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 970–982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.89

• a Ti/Ir-coated tip of nominal tip radius R = 28 ± 10 nm. Photothermal excitation [56] was used, which ensures stable imaging [57] and accurate FM tracking [58][59][60]. An automated calibration method [61] was used to obtain the stiffness of the first eigenmode (kc1 = 43.2 N/m), which was then used

Efficiency improvement in the cantilever photothermal excitation method using a photothermal conversion layer

• Natsumi Inada,
• Hitoshi Asakawa,
• Taiki Kobayashi and
• Takeshi Fukuma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 409–417, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.36

• /bjnano.7.36 Abstract Photothermal excitation is a cantilever excitation method that enables stable and accurate operation for dynamic-mode AFM measurements. However, the low excitation efficiency of the method has often limited its application in practical studies. In this study, we propose a method for

• improving the photothermal excitation efficiency by coating cantilever backside surface near its fixed end with colloidal graphite as a photothermal conversion (PTC) layer. The excitation efficiency for a standard cantilever of PPP-NCHAuD with a spring constant of ≈40 N/m and a relatively stiff cantilever

• than 2 h without any indication of possible contamination from the coating. The proposed method, using a PTC layer made of colloidal graphite, greatly enhances photothermal excitation efficiency even for a relatively stiff cantilever in liquid. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; cantilever excitation

A scanning probe microscope for magnetoresistive cantilevers utilizing a nested scanner design for large-area scans

• Tobias Meier,
• Alexander Förste,
• Ali Tavassolizadeh,
• Karsten Rott,
• Dirk Meyners,
• Roland Gröger,
• Günter Reiss,
• Eckhard Quandt,
• Thomas Schimmel and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 451–461, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.46

• , optical read-outs have to be readjusted not only after every cantilever exchange but also after temperature drifts which can offset the focal position of the laser and photo-detector due to thermal expansion. Additionally, the optical read-out can influence the cantilevers deflection by photothermal

• excitation [16] and interfere with the sample as it can cause photobleaching of fluorescence samples [17]. For specific applications and environments like vacuum, self-sensing tuning forks with manually attached tips can greatly simplify instrumentation but at the cost of reduced operation modes [18][19][20

High-frequency multimodal atomic force microscopy

• Adrian P. Nievergelt,
• Jonathan D. Adams,
• Pascal D. Odermatt and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2459–2467, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.255

• bandwidth of 20 MHz, enabling multifrequency techniques extended beyond 2 MHz for obtaining materials contrast in liquid and air, as well as soft imaging of delicate biological samples. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; multifrequency imaging; nanomechanical characterization; photothermal excitation

• , has recently gained renewed interest [25][26][27][28][29][30]. Although the efficiency of photothermal excitation varies with different coatings, even uncoated cantilevers have been shown to work [31]. Furthermore, photodiode readout electronics in the OBD system typically have been restricted to

• surrounding structures, can drastically alter the cantilever drive efficiency. These effects also make long term imaging difficult and hard to control. Localized excitation techniques such as photothermal excitation cause negligible ambient vibrations, therefore the excitation efficiency does not depend on