Non-contact atomic force microscopy
Non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM), also known as dynamic force microscopy (DFM), is a mode of atomic force microscopy, which itself is a type of scanning probe microscopy. In nc-AFM a sharp probe is moved close (order of Angstroms) to the surface under study, the probe is then raster scanned across the surface, the image is then constructed from the force interactions during the scan. The probe is connected to a resonator, usually a silicon cantilever or a quartz crystal resonator. During measurements the sensor is driven so that it oscillates. The force interactions are measured either by measuring the change in amplitude of the oscillation at a constant frequency just off resonance (amplitude modulation) or by measuring the change in resonant frequency directly using a feedback circuit (usually a phase-locked loop) to always drive the sensor on resonance (frequency modulation).
The two most common modes of nc-AFM operation, frequency modulation and amplitude modulation, are described below.
Frequency modulation atomic force microscopy, introduced by Albrecht, Grütter, Horne and Rugar in 1991, is a mode of nc-AFM where the change in resonant frequency of the sensor is tracked directly, by always exciting the sensor on resonance. To maintain excitation on resonance the electronics must keep a 90° phase difference between the excitation and response of the sensor. This is either done by driving the sensor with the deflection signal phase shifted by 90°, or by using an advanced phase-locked loop which can lock to a specific phase. The microscope can then use the change in resonant frequency (f) as the SPM reference channel, either in feedback mode, or it can be recorded directly in constant height mode.
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