M108

TABLE OF CONTENTS

No

Contents

1.
2.
3.
4.

AIM
INTRODUCTION
BASIC PRICNCIPLE
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Page
No
2
2
2
2

5.

CALCULATION AND DISCUSSION

6.
7.

QUESTIONS
REFERENCE

4
5

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ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY

1.AIM:
The main objective is to study surface morphology by calculating these things.
Determine cluster height and diameter
Compare AFM and SEM results
Determine tip curvature

2.INTRODUCTION:
The atomic force microscopy (AFM) was invented in 1986 by Binning, Quate and Gerber as a
logical step in the development of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) which was used only
for studying the conductive surfaces.
AFM measures the forces acting between a fine tip and a sample. The tip is attached to the free
end of a cantilever and is brought very close to a surface. Attractive or repulsive forces resulting
from interactions between the tip and the surface will cause a positive or negative bending of the
cantilever.[1]

3.Basic Principle:
AFM uses a sharp moving probe over the surface of a sample and measures the changes in force
between the probe tip and the sample in raster scan. A cantilever with a sharp tip is positioned
above a surface. Depending on this separation distance long range or short range forces will
dominate the interaction. This force is measured by the bending of the cantilever by an optical
lever technique: a laser beam is focused on the back of a cantilever and reflected into a photo
detector. Small forces between the tip and sample will cause less deflection than large forces. By
raster- scanning the tip across the surface and recording the change in force as a function of
position, a map of surface topography and other properties can be generated.[1]

4. Experimental Procedure:
Working principle of the AFM is shown in the Figure 1. In this figure Combination of Laser
beam deflection system and position detector (position sensitive diodes) is used. Cantilever
(Silicon Nitride) with the tip is the basic functioning element in the atomic force
Microscopy through which the laser beam is deflected towards the position sensitive diode.
Sample was loaded into the microscope. To collect the data for height, diameter and roughness
analysis scanning of the sample is performed after several steps.[1]

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Figure.1[2]

5.Calculation and Discussion.

AFM imaging on Si surface with nanoclusters were performed. The radius of curvature of the tip
was determined by comparing with SEM-picture and using following formula.[3]

r = D2/8d + d/2
r = Radius of the tip
d= Depth of the total height of nano cluster
D2 = Diameter of the nano-clusters
Radius of nano cluster of AFM
Table 1
Diameter (nm)
D1
D2
257.8 nm
195.3 nm

D3
257.8 nm

D4
273.8 nm

D5
179.7 nm

Average D
232.88 nm

Table 2
Height (nm)
H1
H2
45.74 nm
17.96 nm

H3
34.69 nm

H4
18.24 nm

H5
11.16 nm

Average H
25.55 nm

d=H/2
12.779nm

Raduis of nano cluster of SEM

D1
169.23nm

D2
153.84nm

Table 3
D3
184.61nm

Average D
169.22nm

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Table 4
H1
161.53nm

H2
161.53nm

H3
153.84nm

Average H
158.9nm

d= H/2
79.48nm

By calculating the r for AFM is 536.8nm and for SEM the value of r is 84.77nm.

Fig .2
Fig.3
The above fig. 2 image was taken at magnification (241.55)x 1.88 m and fig. 3 image
(48.156)x 0.938. The RSM value of fig.2 is 7.1983nm and for fig.3 RSM value is 8.982
nm.Analysis shows that as the data points are changed the surface topography is changed
effectively in the nano scale. It means that some of the clusters are extremely large and some are
extremely small. That is why we are getting different roughness.

6.Questions
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of the AFM compared with SEM, TEM
and Optical Interferometric Microscopes?
Advantages:
AFM gives high resolution.Compared with SEM, the AFM provides extraordinary topographical
contrast of the surfaces (no coating is necessary for dielectric samples).
Compared with TEM, 3-dimensional AFM images are obtained without expensive sample
preparation with the yield of far more complete information.
The sample for AFM does not need special preparation in comparison to SEM and TEM which
cause to change the surface conductivity or damage the sample.
Compared with Optical Interferometric Microscope, AFM gives unambiguous measurement of
step height, independent of reflectivity difference between materials.

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Disadvantages:
The image size that AFM provides is much smaller than what electron microscopes can create.
Due to the nature of AFM probes; they cannot normally measure steep walls or overhangs.1
Which tip-sample interaction is important by imaging in contact mode?
The interaction in the repulsive regime of the intermolecular force curve is important for the
contact mode imaging.
How much is the contact area (tip-sample) and a local pressure on the surface?
The contact area is about 10 to 100 nm2. Very low normal force in the nano-newton range in
very high normal pressure in the range of 0.1-100 GPa .
What does it means Rrms roughness?
It is a measure of the surface roughness/smoothness of a material. The smaller the value is, the
smoother the surface will be. The rms roughness (root-mean-square roughness) is given by the
standard deviation of the data. Determined using the standard definition:
=

=1( )
1

Which mode of operation can be used to phase identification of the samples?

Lateral force microscopy is used for phase identification. In this mode, the AFM instrument
monitors the torsion behavior of the cantilevers and the bending of the cantilever is detected. The
lateral forces are usually associated with the frictional forces between the tip and the surface. For
most surfaces, a major contribution in the torsion signal comes from the shear stresses of probing
materials. Therefore, for multicomponent materials, the difference in the friction properties can
be used for the materials phase identification

7. References
1. Manual Script of Lab Course M108
2. Wikipedia Atomic Force Microscope
3. Simon Scheuring,Daniel Levy, Jean-Louis Rigaud. Watching the components of
photosynthetic bacterial membranes and their in situ organization by atomic force microscopy,
Elsevier, vol 1712, issue 2, 1 July 2005, pages 109-127.