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Multi-Frequency Atomic Force Microscopy

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Scanning Probe Microscopy of Functional Materials

Abstract

The atomic force microscope (AFM) was invented in 1986 [1], a close relative of another instrument, the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), invented in 1981 [2]. Both fall under the umbrella of techniques and instruments referred to as scanning probe microscopes (SPMs), with the common thread being that a sharp probe is scanned in a regular pattern to map some sample characteristic. Unlike the STM, the AFM can readily image insulating surfaces. Combined with the ability to study a wide variety of samples and sample environments – ambient, liquid, and vacuum – has made AFM the technique of choice for many high resolution surface imaging applications, including imaging with atomic resolution. Since those early days, AFM techniques have become the mainstay of nanoscience and nanotechnology by providing the capability for structural imaging and manipulation on the nanometer and atomic scales. Beyond simple topographic imaging, AFMs have found an extremely broad range of applications for probing electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties – often at the level of several tens of nanometers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Asylum Research, Santa Barbara, CA, 93117, USA

    Roger Proksch

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  1. Roger Proksch
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Correspondence to Roger Proksch .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , NanoTransport Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, 37831, Tennessee, USA

    Sergei V. Kalinin

  2. Dept. Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 202 Ferguson Hall 7920, Lincoln, 68588, Nebraska, USA

    Alexei Gruverman

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Proksch, R. (2010). Multi-Frequency Atomic Force Microscopy. In: Kalinin, S., Gruverman, A. (eds) Scanning Probe Microscopy of Functional Materials. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7167-8_5

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