Get to the

point!

AFM - atomic force microscopy

A
A 'new'
'new' view
view of structure (1986)

CD
CD stamper
stamper

AlGaN/GaN
AlGaN/GaN quantum
quantum well
well waveguide
waveguide

surface
surface atoms
atoms on
on Si
Si single
single crystal
crystal
polymer
polymer growth
growth

See Vocabulary of Surface Crystallography,

Journal of Applied Physics 35, 1306 (1964),
by Elizabeth A. Wood

AFM - atomic force microscopy

How
How does
does the
the microscope
microscope work?
laser
laser
diode
diode

photodiode
photodiode
mirror
mirror

Tip
Tip scans
scans sample
sample
Up
Up and
and down
down movement
movement of
of tip
tip
recorded
recorded by
by position
position sensing
sensing
photodiode
photodiode

Si
Si33N
N44
tip
tip
sample

AFM - atomic force microscopy

How
How does
does the
the microscope
microscope work?
laser
laser
diode
diode

photodiode
photodiode
mirror
mirror

Tip
Tip scans
scans sample
sample
Up
Up and
and down
down movement
movement of
of tip
tip
recorded
recorded by
by position
position sensing
sensing
photodiode
photodiode

Si
Si33N
N44
tip
tip
sample

AFM - atomic force microscopy

How
How does
does the
the microscope
microscope work?
Two
Two modes
modes of operation
operation

laser
laser
diode
diode

photodiode
photodiode
mirror
mirror

Si
Si33N
N44
tip
tip
sample

AFM - atomic force microscopy

How
How does
does the
the microscope
microscope work?
Contact
Contact mode - short-range interactions ()
() -- interatomic
interatomic forces
forces
Tip: 5-20
5-20 nm
nm radius,
radius, 10-25
10-25 m
m
high,
high, on 50-400
50-400 m
m
cantilever
cantilever beam
beam

AFM - atomic force microscopy

How
How does
does the
the microscope
microscope work?
Contact
Contact mode
mode -- short-range
short-range interactions
interactions ()
() -- interatomic
interatomic forces
forces
Tip: 5-20
5-20 nm
nm radius,
radius, 10-25
10-25 m
m
high,
high, on 50-400
50-400 m
m
cantilever
cantilever beam
beam
Cantilever:
Cantilever: low
low stiffness
stiffness -can't
can't deform
deform surface
surface
Tip contacts
contacts surface
surface

Detector
Detector system can measure
deflections
deflections in nm range

Tip scans surface:

surface: either
either tip
tip or
or
specimen
specimen moved
moved by
by
piezoelectric
piezoelectric positioning
positioning
system
system over
over xx and
and yy

AFM - atomic force microscopy

How
How does
does the
the microscope
microscope work?
Contact
Contact mode - short-range interactions ()
() -- interatomic
interatomic forces
forces
Two
Two ways
ways -- 'constant
'constant force'
force' .
. feedback
feedback system
system
moves
moves tip
tip in
in zz direction
direction to
to keep
keep force
force
constant
constant
'constant
'constant height'. no feedback system usually
usually used
used when
when surface
surface roughness
roughness small
small
higher
higher scan
scan speeds possible

AFM - atomic force microscopy

How
How does
does the
the microscope
microscope work?
Tapping
Tapping mode
mode - long-range
long-range forces
forces -- van
van der
der Waals,
Waals,
electrostatic,
electrostatic, magnetic
magnetic
Tip
Tip vibrates (1055 Hz)
Hz) close
close to
specimen
specimen surface (50-150 )
with
with amplitude
amplitude 10-100
10-100 nm
nm
May
May at
at times
times lightly contact
contact
surface
surface
Suitable for
for soft
soft materials
materials

AFM - atomic force microscopy

How
How does
does the
the microscope
microscope work?
Tapping
Tapping mode
mode
Tip vibrates (1055 Hz)
Hz) close to
specimen
specimen surface
surface (50-150
(50-150 )
)
with
with amplitude
amplitude 10-100
10-100 nm
nm

When
When near
near or
or on
on surface,
surface,
oscillation
oscillation is damped - tip z
position
position corrected
corrected so that
that
vibration
vibration amplitude
amplitude stays
constant
constant

Amplitude

May at times lightly contact

surface
surface

Tip height

AFM - atomic force microscopy

From force-distance plot, can get:

range & magnitude of attractive
attractive &
& repulsive
repulsive forces
forces
elastic
elastic modulus & adhesion energy