Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
AMI uses an Agilent 5500 atomic force microscope. Through SKYCAM, a Nanosurf FlexAFM Microscope is also available.
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a technique for imaging the surface topography of
solid materials at near atomic resolution. Piezoelectric crystals are used to direct
tiny, but accurate, movements of a cantilevered sharp probe in a scan across the surface
of the material sample. Forces between atoms on the surface and atoms in the tip
of the probe are detected by measuring the deflection of the probe perpendicular to
the surface. The resulting AFM image is a display of the height (z) of the surface
as a function of position (x,y) on the surface, and is commonly represented as a pseudocolor
plot.
Typical AFM applications include surface characterization of a wide range of materials including metals and alloys, semiconductors, polymers and thin-film samples. Unlike an electron microscope, the sample does not need to be in a vacuum, allowing AFM images to be obtained from cells and many other forms of biological materials which would not survive a vacuum environment.
| Specifications | |
| X, Y Scan Range: | 90 mm, 90 mm |
| X,Y Noise Level: | 0.05 nm, 0.05 nm |
| Z Scan Range: | 8 mm |
| Z Noise Level: | 0.02 nm |