In the laboratory studies using an atomic force microscope, contact and resonance modes are the most widely used allowing acquisition of scans in relatively short times. On the other hand, their disadvantage is the difficulty of controlling the force impact, which can lead to irreversible changes in the morphology of the sample.
This is particularly critical when scanning soft objects such as bacteria, cells, and polymers. In the contact mode this interaction occurs also due to frictional forces which magnitude is difficult to control when scanning the sample surface. In the resonance mode the influence of frictional forces is smoothed out by vertical motion of the probe; however, high quality of the cantilever oscillations does not allow controlling its force at sudden differences in topography of the observed surface. In order to overcome these obstacles, we have developed a mode of delicate and gentle surface scanning, which employs a light touch to the surface only. We have named this mode as flirt mode.
Tags: atomic force microscope contact and resonance mode femtoscan x flirt mode piezo manipulator scanning probe microscopy атомно-силовой микроскоп контактный и резонансный режим пьезоманипулятор сканирующая зондовая микроскопия фемтоскан х флирт мода
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