The method of noncontact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) has evolved significantly since its introduction and it is now possible to employ the technique to visualize the internal structure of individual molecules, controllably manipulate single atoms on surfaces, and measure potential energy landscapes with unprecedented resolution. Moreover, NC-AFM is not only limited to operation under ultrahigh vacuum and it can now be utilized to study the detailed structure and even the dynamic activity of biological molecules.
This Thematic Series follows the series "Noncontact atomic force microscopy" and "Noncontact atomic force microscopy II".
Figure 1: SEM image of a typical example of an as-deposited CNF onto the tip apex of the Si AFM probe.
Figure 2: Results of LAO-AFM on Si with CNF (a) and Si (b) probes as a function of the writing speed (μm/s). ...
Figure 3: Results of LAO-AFM on Si with CNF (a) and Si (b) probes as a function of the bias voltage (in V). W...
Figure 4: Monitoring chemical and mechanical stability of CNF probes for LAO-AFM. SEM images before (a) and a...
Figure 5: Reproducibility for patterning line arrays by using CNF probes. Array of lines written at a) 23.4 V...
Figure 6: Kinetics of LAO-AFM on Si by using CNF versus Si probes. a) Line height upon writing speed for a bi...
Figure 1: Schematic and photo of the setup including the optical beam deflection and the nested scanner desig...
Figure 2: A crucial precondition for a nested high resolution scanner design is the stability of the housing ...
Figure 3: a) Optical microscopy image of a SiOx calibration grating with various feature sizes. Demonstration...
Figure 4: a) Overlay of the optical microscope image with the AFM topography of an optical grating structure ...
Figure 5: Characterization of AFM cantilevers equipped with strain sensitive TMR sensors. a) The cantilevers ...
Figure 6: a) To improve lateral resolution, tips with a tip radius of 30 nm were grown by a combination of fo...
Figure 7: Dynamic mode imaging of FDTS-SAM samples using a TMR sensor with the feedback on amplitude and phas...
Figure 1: Q-factor of NCLR cantilever with different coating coverage percentages. A 30 nm Al coating was add...
Figure 2: Noise spectra for soft cantilever with different coating coverage acquired in air. Fully coated can...
Figure 3: (a) Force noise density spectra for the soft cantilevers obtained from Figure 2 by multiplying with the mea...
Figure 4: Force–distance curves for an uncoated (red), partial coated (blue) and fully coated soft cantilever...
Figure 5: Calculation of the change of Q-factor for a fully coated NCLR cantilever with different coating thi...
Figure 1: (a) Schematic of AFM tip interacting with the standard linear solid model; (b) example of force cur...
Figure 2: (a) Illustration of AFM tip approaching a 2-dimensional array of SLS models; (b) illustration of AF...
Figure 3: Illustration of the proposed model for a spherically symmetric AFM tip oscillating along the z-axis...
Figure 4: (a) Typical force curve for a spherical tip interacting with the Q3D surface model in monomodal tap...
Figure 5: (a) Force curve for a 20 nm radius tip with a 2.5 nm radius protrusion at its apex as shown in the ...
Figure 6: Examples of spectroscopy curves: (a) amplitude and phase vs cantilever position; (b) peak indentati...
Figure 1: a) Schematic view of the optical path allowing good visibility from the top to the tip–sample setup...
Figure 2: Additional two lenses optics which allows for the illumination of the tip–sample interface.
Figure 3: Coarse positioner and scan unit. Panel a shows the entire unit. In panel b the unit is stripped dow...
Figure 4: The atomic force microscope is assembled on a CF200 flange with four tension springs. Copper fins a...
Figure 5: A chromium grain embedded in a polycrystalline copper alloy. a) Measured with a confocal laser micr...
Figure 6: a) Topography, b) dark KPFM and c) 30% laser-power illuminated (470–480 nm and a maximum power of 5...
Figure 7: Panel a shows sections across the SiC p/n-junction (Figure 6) extracted from images taken at various light ...
Figure 8: Simultaneously acquired topography (a) and CPD (b) images of a silicon carbide JBS structure. The s...
Figure 9: a) Close view of the line sections from Figure 8e at the top layer of the structure, together with least-squ...
Figure 1: Schematic illustration of the photothermal excitation setup using a cantilever coated with a PTC la...
Figure 2: Formation of a PTC layer at a cantilever fixed end with a micromanipulator. (a) Preparation of a sm...
Figure 3: SEM images of AC55 cantilevers. (a) Noncoated and (b) coated with a PTC layer. (c) A magnified SEM ...
Figure 4: (a) Amplitude and (b) phase versus frequency curves measured with a PPP-NCHAuD in water. (c) Amplit...
Figure 5: (a) Optical images of AC55 cantilevers having different surface coverage. (i): Noncoated cantilever...
Figure 6: Long-term stability of the PTC layer in liquid. (a) Optical images of an AC55 cantilever before and...
Figure 1: Experimental setup. a) Feedback scheme. The dashed parts enable the slow-drift compensation. Also s...
Figure 2: a) Evolution of resonance frequency shift (black), excitation (red), and dew point (blue) over a du...
Figure 3: Application of the slow feedback control. a) Evolution of frequency shift Δf (black), frequency shi...
Figure 4: Smoothed frequency-shift (black) versus distance curve on HOPG and tip–sample force Fts (red) calcu...
Figure 5: Topography (a) of HOPG after rinsing with Milli-Q water and height profiles (b) along the lines ind...
Figure 6: High-resolution detuning image of HOPG in quasi-constant height mode. Inset: 3-fold symmetrised dri...
Figure 1: Left column: Experimental constant height Δf images at decreasing tip–sample separation. Note a 10 ...
Figure 2: Left column: simulated constant height force images at decreasing tip–sample separation, over a Si(...
Figure 3: Comparison of the evolution in force (top row) and frequency shift (lower two rows). The evolution ...
Figure 4: Simulated constant height images at decreasing tip–sample separation for three different probe late...
Figure 1: Schematic representation of functional elements of an NC-AFM described by transfer functions Hy. Qu...
Figure 2: Model for signal and noise propagation in an NC-AFM, highlighting the tip–sample interaction, PLL d...
Figure 3: Relations between the piezo position zp (tip position for resting cantilever), the lower turning po...
Figure 4: Determination of the tip–sample interaction parameter βts from the slope of a measured Δf(zp) curve...
Figure 5: Measured noise spectral density (solid lines) of (a, b) the frequency shift signal and (c, d) the a...
Figure 6: Frequency shift noise spectral density dΔf for the case of significant tip–sample interaction measu...
Figure 7:
(a, b) Frequency shift noise spectral density dΔf and (c, d) topography noise spectral density wit...
Figure 8:
(a, b) Frequency shift noise spectral density dΔf and (c, d) topography noise spectral density wit...
Figure 9: (a) Block diagram of interlaced control loops as introduced in Figure 2 and (b) signal-flow graph to demons...
Figure 10: (a) Calculated gain and (b) calculated step response of the amplitude control loop compared to (c) ...
Figure 11: (a) Calculated gain and (b) calculated step response of the PLL compared to (c) the measured step r...
Figure 12: (a, b) Frequency response and (c, d) step response of the distance control loop for a given tip–sam...
Figure 13: Ratio δα = −αts,2/αts,1 as a function of the z-position and the amplitude. A Morse interaction usin...