Karl Franzens University Graz
Graz University of Technology
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Karl Franzens University Graz | Graz University of Technology | |
High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy and Fast Mapping of Sample Properties at the Nanoscale Since the invention of the atomic force microscope (AFM) in 1986 the developments in its technology led constantly to improvements in resolution, speed, versatility, and usability. One focus in AFM instrumentation is on speeding up the AFM system in order to develop instruments for imaging applications on the nano-scale in real-time, i.e. more than two orders of magnitude faster than conventional AFMs. In order to achieve this performance, every system component has been re-designed and optimized for speed performance. This work demonstrates the potential of such an integrated approach to significantly improve performance of mechatronic imaging systems. The resulting prototype AFM system allows imaging in real-time at speeds of up to 61 images per second. This new generation of AFMs will enable observation of dynamic chemical and biological processes on the molecular level for the first time and, thus, open a wide range of new applications in the broad fields of bioand nanotechnology. A second focus in AFM development is the direct measurement of mechanical material properties of the sample surface with high spatial resolution. A new measurement mode is discussed that allows the direct mapping of surface properties during standard AFM imaging, extending the imaging capability beyond topography measurement without increasing the measurement time. This may have a significant impact on the use of AFM systems in material science applications. |