Basic methods in imaging of micro & nanostructures with AFM

螢幕截圖 2016-04-05 14.30.44

Item no.: P2538000

Principle

Approaching a sharp silicon tip mounted on a cantilever to a sample surface leads to an atomic scale interaction. The result is a bend of the cantilever which is detected by a laser. In static mode the resulting deflection is used to investigate the topography of the sample surface line-by-line using a feedback loop. In dynamic mode the cantilever is oscillated at fixed frequency resulting in a damped amplitude near the surface. The measurement parameters (setpoint, feedback gain,…) play a crucial role for image quality. The dependence on the imaging quality is investigated for different nano structured samples.

Tasks

  1. Set-up the microscope and start up the software. Mount a cantilever (with tip) and approach the tip towards a sample.
  2. Investigate the influence of the scanning parameters on the imaging quality and performance, e.g. PID gain, setpoint (force), vibrational amplitude, and scanning speed. Use both static and dynamic force mode.
  3. Image 7 different samples (microstructures, carbon nano tubes, skin cross-section, bacteria, CD stamper, chip structure, glass beads) by optimizing the parameters respectively.

What you can learn about

  • Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
  • Lennard-Jones potential
  • Imaging of nano structures
  • Static Force Mode
  • Dynamic Force Mode
  • Feedback loop
  • Force
  • Vibrational amplitude

Software included. Computer not provided.