Noncontact atomic force microscopy
No other method has opened the door to progress in nanoscience and nanotechnology as much as the introduction of scanning probe methods did in the 1980s, since they offer a way to visualize the nanoworld. Since the beginnings, almost two decades ago, NC-AFM has evolved into a powerful method that is able not just to image surfaces, but also to quantify tip–sample forces and interaction potentials as well as to manipulate individual atoms on conductors, semiconductors, and insulators alike.
See also the Thematic Series:
Noncontact atomic force microscopy III
Noncontact atomic force microscopy II
Advanced atomic force microscopy techniques IV
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- Published 09 Jan 2012
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Figure 1: Topographs acquired in constant Δf NC-AFM of Si(100) at 5 K, demonstrating different imaging mechan...
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Figure 2: Larger scans of (a) inverted and (b) high-setpoint inverted images presented in Figure 1b and Figure 1c. In a) the la...
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Figure 3: Experimental short-range force (nN) and dissipation (eV/cycle) as a function of relative tip–sample...
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- Letter
- Published 29 Feb 2012
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Figure 1: (a) MFM probes the force between the magnetic dipole moment of a probe tip and the magnetic stray f...
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Figure 2: Lift Mode FM-MFM image using a qPlus sensor with an etched iron tip attached to it (see inset in a)...
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Figure 3: Lift Mode FM-MFM image employing a qPlus sensor with a commercial cobalt-coated MFM cantilever tip ...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 29 Feb 2012
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Figure 1: Topography images of the SiC(0001) sample (a) before annealing, (b) after oxide removal at 1000 °C,...
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Figure 2: Topography images of graphene layers epitaxially grown on SiC(0001); (a) preparation in UHV, (b) pr...
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Figure 3: (a) Topographic image showing two steps found typically on samples prepared in an argon atmosphere....
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Figure 4: Rendered images of graphene layers on SiC(0001) prepared in (a) UHV and (b) an argon atmosphere. Th...
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Figure 5: Two-dimensional histograms based on the data set for the rendered images in Figure 4. The colour scheme rep...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 29 Feb 2012
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Figure 1: (a) SFM image showing part of a large pentacene island that overgrows two monoatomic substrate step...
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Figure 2: Pattern I. Imaged with an angle of 45°. (a) Topograph. (b) Simultaneously acquired dissipation sign...
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Figure 3: Pattern II. (a) Image displaying a defect. (b) Imaged with an angle of 45°. (c) Magnification of th...
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Figure 4: Large-area scan of the area where Figure 2 and Figure 3 were recorded with molecular resolution. f0 = 160.440 kHz, Δ...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 06 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: (a) Ball model of the MgAl2O4 stacking sequence in the [111] direction showing one repeat unit of 4...
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Figure 2: Experimental NC-AFM images recorded on the MgAl2O4(111) surface prepared by sputtering and annealin...
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Figure 3: (a) Experimental NC-AFM image with the surface superstructure model superimposed. (b) Illustration ...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 07 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: (a) Scheme of the first two eigenmodes of a cantilever and the tip deflection under bimodal excitat...
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Figure 2: Fractional operators of (0.14/x6 − 1/x2). (a) The function, half-derivative and derivative are plot...
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Figure 3: Comparison between the general expression (Equation 6) and the half-derivative (Equation 16) relationship to the frequen...
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Figure 4: Comparison between the general expression (Equation 23) and the half-integral relationship (Equation 24) to the frequency...
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Figure 5: Comparison between the general expression for the frequency shift of the second mode in bimodal FM-...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 08 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: (a) STM image of the PTCDA/Ag/Si(111) √3 × √3 surface. Scan area: 250 nm × 250 nm, tunneling voltag...
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Figure 2: STM image of a double layer of PTCDA arranged in a herringbone phase. The structure is indicated by...
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Figure 3: (a) Frequency-shift versus distance curve. The contribution from the long-range forces has been sub...
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Figure 4: Scheme of the dissipation processes. The black arrows mark the different “snapshots” for the approa...
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Figure 5: (a) Dissipation signal for approach (black dots) and retraction (red dots). The inset displays the ...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 12 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: (a) Molecular scheme and (b) structure of HCPTP optimized in vacuum.
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Figure 2: Constant-frequency-shift image of the KBr surface after the deposition of a small amount of molecul...
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Figure 3: Upper image: topography and lower image: Kelvin map of a KBr terrace with a higher coverage. Imagin...
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Figure 4: Images of a sample annealed at 150 °C after the deposition of the molecules at room temperature. (a...
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Figure 5: (a) and (b) are the profiles that correspond to the blue and green lines drawn in Figure 4a; (c) is the prof...
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Figure 6: (a) Topographic and (b) Kelvin map of a high molecular coverage annealed to 150 °C; (c) and (d) are...
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Figure 7: High resolution topographic images of an MLh domain. A = 2 nm. (a) Δf = −35 Hz, (b) Δf = −50 Hz. Th...
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Figure 8: High resolution (a) topographic and (b) Kelvin image of an MLv domain. A = 2 nm, Δf = −20 Hz. The a...
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Figure 9: Lowest-energy adsorbed conformation of HCPTP adsorbed on KBr(001). (a) Top and (b) side view. K+ io...
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Figure 10: Tentative model of the MLh layer.
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 13 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: AFM resolution examples: (a) high resolution UHV NC-AFM image of SiO2 displaying features with radi...
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Figure 2: Verification of atom–substrate potential: Potential wa–s versus z for numerical and analytical sche...
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Figure 3: Schematic illustrating the model geometry: The surface is sinusoidally corrugated along the x direc...
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Figure 4: Hamaker force for flat surfaces: Relationship between tip potential and distance from the surface. ...
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Figure 5: Hamaker force law for corrugated surfaces: Tip–sample distance dependence of tip potential for high...
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Figure 6: Contours of constant normalized frequency shift, γ, for a corrugated surface. Attenuation is observ...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 14 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: (a) Definition of the z-axis: The cantilever oscillates with a constant amplitude A. The lower turn...
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Figure 2: Amplitude dependence of the CoD for the Morse force law. The positions marked with 1, 2, 3, and 4 c...
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Figure 3: Model force Fts(z), deconvoluted force FS/M(z) and the residuals ΔFS/M(z) for the Morse force law w...
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Figure 4: Amplitude dependence of the deviation in magnitude (a) and position (b) from the force minimum for ...
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Figure 5: Amplitude dependence of the CoD for a Lennard-Jones force law. The positions marked with 1, 2, 3, a...
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Figure 6: Model force Fts(z), deconvoluted force curves FS/M(z) and the residuals ΔFS/M(z) for the Lennard-Jo...
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Figure 7: Amplitude dependence of the deviation in magnitude (a) and position (b) from the force minimum for ...
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Figure 8: Dependence of the CoD on the ratio A/d of amplitude and step width for the Morse and the Lennard-Jo...
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Figure 9: (a) Amplitude dependence of the CoD for Morse force law with different decay constants κ (see legen...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 15 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: The effect of z modulation (A) on the tunneling current (B). amod = 0.1 nm and f0 = 73180 Hz; It ca...
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Figure 2: Circuit diagram of a current-to-voltage converter (IVC) where Rf is the feedback resistance with th...
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Figure 3: (A) Frequency response of the IVC presented in Figure 2. The following parameters were used to simulate Rf ...
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Figure 4: (A) The coupling between the deflection and the tunneling current channel is established by the str...
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Figure 5: (A) If the slow Op111 is replaced by a faster OPA, Op637, the modulation of the virtual ground
![[Graphic 7]](/bjnano/content/inline/2190-4286-3-28-i11.png?max-width=637&scale=1.18182)
can...
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Figure 6: (A) Original connections in which one of the electrodes of the tuning fork was connected to the def...
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Figure 7: A set of constant-frequency-shift maps (z) and simultaneously recorded average-tunneling-current ma...
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Figure 8: Two typically observed profiles of the dependence of the short-range interaction force (FSR) and th...
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Figure 9: Analyses of the impact of the tunneling current on dissipation. It can be clearly seen that the tun...
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Figure 10: Relationship between the frequency shift and the dissipation for the reactive tip termination (A) a...
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Figure 11: Corrected dissipation for damping measured above the adatom and above the corner hole. The corner h...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 19 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: Schematic diagram of cantilever regulation by means of magnetic force. The system consists of a Q-c...
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Figure 2: Transfer function of the differentiator in the Q-control circuit with a cutoff frequency of about 8...
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Figure 3: Effect of Q-control on the step-response of the cantilever recorded at about 700 nm from a mica sub...
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Figure 4: Comparison of the power spectrum density (PSD) of thermal noise in the cantilever-deflection signal...
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Figure 5: Comparison of pulse responses recorded at 300 nm from the substrate (a) and in close proximity (b)....
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Figure 6: Complex compliance of cantilever–water system calculated by Fourier–Laplace transformation of the r...
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Figure 7: Derivation of the viscoelasticity of hydrated water. The compliance data shown in Figure 6 are inverted to ...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 23 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: XPS measurements on Cu3BiS3 and Cu3BiS3 etched in NH3. (a) Overview spectrum showing that Na, oxide...
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Figure 2: KPFM measurements of the (from left to right) NH3-etched Cu3BiS3, and Cu3BiS3 with the In2S3, ZnS a...
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Figure 3: Overview of the measured work-function values and their distribution for all samples investigated. ...
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Figure 4: In-phase (solid circles) and 90°-phase-shifted (open circles) SPV spectra of (a) Cu3BiS3 and (b) Cu3...
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Figure 5: PV amplitude spectra of (a) Cu3BiS3 and (b) Cu3BiS3/In2S3 at modulation frequencies between 3.5 and...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 27 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: MSPS can have two conformations, namely the agraffe-like cis (a) and the scorpion-like trans (b) is...
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Figure 2: 0.2 ML of MSPS evaporated onto KCl. (a) displays the NC-AFM topography after deposition at RT (Δf =...
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Figure 3: (a) Topography image of ≈1 ML of MSPS adsorbed on KCl (Δf = −75 Hz, A0 = 7 nm); (b) shows a close u...
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Figure 4: Conformations of MSPS on KCl(001). Only the positions of the substrate anions have been drawn. In (...
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Figure 5: Model for the lateral stress ε in a MSPS film adsorbed on KBr (left) and NaCl (right). (a) and (d) ...
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Figure 6: (a) Large-scale topography image of electron-bombarded KCl showing the characteristic holes (Δf = −...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 29 Mar 2012
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Figure 1: The response of a damped harmonic oscillator (red line) to a chirped driver (blue line) whose frequ...
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Figure 2: Wavelet cross-correlation between the chirped driver and the response of the damped harmonic oscill...
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Figure 3: The response of a damped harmonic oscillator (red line, quality factor Q = 4) to a sinc driver (blu...
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Figure 4: Wavelet cross-correlation between the sinc driver and the response of the damped harmonic oscillato...
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Figure 5: The response of a damped harmonic oscillator (red line, quality factor Q = 40) to a sinc driver (bl...
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Figure 6: Wavelet cross-correlation between the sinc driver and the response of the damped harmonic oscillato...
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Figure 7: Wavelet cross-correlation between a sinusoidal reference signal at resonance and the damped harmoni...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 02 Apr 2012
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Figure 1: Illustration of constant-height and constant-Δf imaging modes in nc-AFM. We consider, as an illustr...
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Figure 2: (a) Constant-height FM-AFM image of the graphite surface with Hset = 4.3 Å. White and dark circles ...
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Figure 3: (a) Atomic structure of the buckled graphene on SiC with the height of graphene atoms classified in...
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Figure 4: (a) FM-AFM calculated image of a graphene nanoribbon with Hset = 3.8 Å. The Δf corrugation is 81.68...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 13 Apr 2012
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Figure 1: (a) Side-on view of the structure of the Cr and W cluster tip models. (b) The structure of the peri...
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Figure 2: (a) Energy as a function of cluster Cr tip height above the NaCl(001) surface. (b) Energy as a func...
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Figure 3: Energy as a function of tip height for the W tip interacting with the NaCl(001) surface.
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Figure 4: Constant-frequency-shift image (Δf = −60 Hz) of the NaCl surface imaged with the cluster Cr tip.
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Figure 5: Total energy changes as a function of tip height for the periodic Cr tip interacting with the NaCl(...
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Figure 6: Tip force as a function of height directly above Cl− (left) and Na+ (right) ions in the NaCl(001) s...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 18 Apr 2012
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Figure 1: The interaction versus distance. (a) Conservative force versus distance interaction between an AFM ...
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Figure 2: Feedback diagrams for different d-AFM modes. dAFM has three basic variables: The oscillation amplit...
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Figure 3: Testing the methods at high Q. Topography images of a calibration grid taken in vacuum in (a) AM (s...
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Figure 4: Response to a step perturbation under high Q. (a) Perturbation applied to the free cantilever. (b) ...
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Figure 5: In vacuum total dissipation (a) and frequency shift (b) curves as a function of the z-scanner posit...
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Figure 6: Gold electrodes fabricated by e-beam lithography. The DAM topography was acquired in vacuum with ex...
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Figure 7: DAM in liquid. Frequency shift (black) and dissipation (light gray) for a clean tip (a) and after b...
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