ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY – IMAGING, MEASURING AND MANIPULATING SURFACES AT THE ATOMIC SCALE Edited by Victor Bellitto Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale Edited by Victor Bellitto Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. 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Publishing Process Manager Oliver Kurelic Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published March, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechopen.com Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale, Edited by Victor Bellitto p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0414-8 Contents Preface IX Chapter 1 Crystal Lattice Imaging Using Atomic Force Microscopy 1 Vishal Gupta Chapter 2 Atomic Force Microscopy in Optical Imaging and Characterization 19 Martin Veis and Roman Antos Chapter 3 Magnetic Force Microscopy: Basic Principles and Applications 39 F.A. Ferri, M.A. Pereira-da-Silva and E. Marega Jr. Chapter 4 Vibration Responses of Atomic Force Microscope Cantilevers 57 Thin-Lin Horng Chapter 5 Wavelet Transforms in Dynamic Atomic Force Spectroscopy 71 Giovanna Malegori and Gabriele Ferrini Chapter 6 Nanoscale Effects of Friction, Adhesion and Electrical Conduction in AFM Experiments 99 Marius Enachescu Chapter 7 Measurement of the Nanoscale Roughness by Atomic Force Microscopy: Basic Principles and Applications 147 R.R.L. De Oliveira, D.A.C. Albuquerque, T.G.S. Cruz, F.M. Yamaji and F.L. Leite Chapter 8 Predicting Macroscale Effects Through Nanoscale Features 175 Victor J. Bellitto and Mikhail I. Melnik Chapter 9 AFM Application in III-Nitride Materials and Devices 189 Z. Chen, L.W. Su, J.Y. Shi, X.L. Wang, C.L. Tang and P. Gao VI Contents Chapter 10 Atomic Force Microscopy to Characterize the Healing Potential of Asphaltic Materials 209 Prabir Kumar Das, Denis Jelagin, Björn Birgisson and Niki Kringos Chapter 11 Atomic Force Microscopy – For Investigating Surface Treatment of Textile Fibers 231 Nemeshwaree Behary and Anne Perwuelz Preface With the advent of the atomic force microscope (AFM) came an extremely valuable analytical resource and technique, useful for the qualitative and quantitative surface analysis with sub-nanometer resolution. In addition, samples studied with an AFM do not require any special pretreatments that may alter or damage the sample, and permit a three dimensional investigation of the surface. This book presents a collection of current research from scientists throughout the world who employ atomic force microscopy in their investigations. The technique has become widely accepted and used in obtaining valuable data in a wide variety of fields. It is impressive to see how it has proliferated and found many uses throughout manufacturing, research and development in the short time period since its development in 1986 The chapter list is given below, along with a brief description, intended to provide insight into their content. Chapter 1. Crystal Lattice Imaging Using Atomic Force Microscopy This book commences by introducing the reader to the crystal lattice imaging that is envisaged and feasible through atomic force microscopy. An instructive introduction to obtaining images with atomic resolution is presented by the author, along with the pitfalls that can be encountered and how to overcome them. Chapter 2. Atomic Force Microscopy in Optical Imaging and Characterization In this chapter, cantilever tips are demonstrated to act effectively as near-field probes, combining optical measurements with the high lateral resolution of AFM. The authors demonstrate that nanostructures of 10 nm can be resolved independent of illumination wavelength. Chapter 3. Magnetic Force Microscopy: Basic Principles and Applications This chapter introduces the reader to magnetic force microscopy, which is derived from AFM and is useful for imaging magnetization patterns with high resolution. The image is obtained by the magnetic force interaction between the tip and sample X Preface surface. The authors also present MFM analysis of the magnetic properties of Si and Ge-based magnetic semiconductors. Chapter 4. Vibration Responses of Atomic Force Microscope Cantilevers During the sampling process in AFM, it is necessary to accurately calculate the vibrational response of the cantilever. In this chapter, the flexural vibration responses of the cantilever are evaluated using the Timoshenko beam theory and the model superposition method. The authors demonstrate that when the ratio of the Young’s modulus to shear modulus is greater than 1000, the Timoshenko beam model is better suited for simulating the flexural vibration response of an AFM cantilever. Chapter 5. Wavelet Transforms in Dynamic Atomic Force Spectroscopy In this chapter, an introduction to wavelet transforms is provided, which allow a reduction in the acquisition time to values comparable with dynamic force spectroscopy imaging. The authors propose the technique of wavelet analysis to detect transient spectral features in a time domain of tens of milliseconds, to enable real time analysis of surface chemical kinetics or surface force modification with dynamic force spectroscopy. Chapter 6. Nanoscale Effects of Friction, Adhesion and Electrical Conduction in AFM Experiments. This chapter provides an introduction to nanotribology, a field of tribology that studies the interactions between contacting surfaces in relative motion at the atomic- and nano-scale. The author presents the combination techniques of AFM and point contact microscopy (PCM), where electrical current through the point-contact of the AFM tip is used to reveal the atomic scale periodicity of the substrate. Chapter 7. Measurement of the Nanoscale Roughness by Atomic Force Microscopy: Basic Principles and Magnetic Force Microscopy: Basic Principles and Applications The various surface roughness measurements that can be performed with atomic force microscopy are described and discussed, along with the different applications of surface roughness in material characterization. The authors also introduce fractal dimension and power spectral density as complementary techniques to surface roughness analysis. Chapter 8. Predicting Macroscale Effects through Nanoscale Features This chapter demonstrates how a large enough data set of surface characteristics can be acquired by atomic force microscopy to conduct statistical analysis and investigate the behavior of materials at the macroscale. The authors also demonstrate that, aided by regression techniques, the relationship between nanoscale features and the macroscale behavior can be precisely estimated. [...]... with the Hamaker constant The macroscopic vdW force is determined by the 6 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale properties of the materials and the medium, and the tip geometry In most cases, vdW forces are attractive between tip and surface of interest The capillary force arises when tip approaches the surface in air The water molecules on the surface... obtained from the St Austell area in Cornwall, UK The sample was cleaned with water and elutriation was used to achieve classification at a size of less than 2 µm No other chemical treatment was done Further details about the kaolinite extraction and preparation are given in the literature (Bidwell et al., 1970) 8 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale A... in integrated optics Precise characterization of their lateral profile is necessary to control the lithography processing However, the limitation of AFM is that the needle has to be held by a mechanical arm or cantilever This restricts 20 2 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale Will-be-set-by-IN-TECH the access to the sample and prevents the probing... of the sample by Ei is not assumed To obtain the polarization induced in the sample, the calculation is approximated by assuming the dipole as a point in the centre of the sphere Then the near-field interaction between the tip dipole and the sample dipole in the electrostatic approximation can be described by the polarizability αβ where 22 4 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating. .. The atomic imaging was obtained at a scan rate of 30 Hz at scan angle of 80 0–9 00 with very low 10 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale integral and proportional gain (0.06) The online filters (low pass and high pass) were turned off during the online crystal lattice imaging During offline image processing, flattening and low pass filtering were applied... 2010) 14 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale A B B C D Fig 5 Crystal lattice imaging of the alumina face of kaolinite showing (A) Theoretical atomic lattice structure, (B) Flattened-low pass filtered height image, (C) FFT spectra, and (D) FFT transformed flattened-low pass filtered height image of (B) The seven black circles in (D) show the hexagonal... 1993) and sodium chloride (Meyer & Amer, 1990) The AFM has also been used to 2 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale investigate the crystal lattice structure of the tetrahedral layer of clay minerals in 2:1 layer structures, such as muscovite (Drake et al., 1989), illite (Hartman et al., 1990) and montmorillonite (Hartman et al., 1990) Atomic- scale. .. pp (543-549), 0168-132X 16 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale Drake, B and Hellmann, R (1991) Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging of the Albite (010) Surface American Mineralogist, Vol 76, No 9-10, pp (1773-1776) Drake, B., Prater, C B., Weisenhorn, A L., Gould, S A., Albrecht, T R., Quate, C F., Cannell, D S., Hansma, H G and Hansma, P K (1989) Imaging... atomic force microscopy is applied to the study of asphaltic materials, to overcome limitations incurred by the opacity of the material and its adhesive properties The authors, through the use of atomic force microscopy, demonstrate and develop a model of the physico-chemical “healing” or restoration of bitumen to its original properties Chapter 11 Atomic Force Microscopy- for investigating surface treatment... introduced the concept of non-contact mode (FM-AFM) in 1987 to precisely measure the interaction force between a probe and the surface During non-contact mode, the probe is excited to oscillate at its resonant frequency The frequency shift of a probe is monitored, as it encounters a surface structure, which generates surface 4 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic . ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY – IMAGING, MEASURING AND MANIPULATING SURFACES AT THE ATOMIC SCALE Edited by Victor Bellitto Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring. with the Hamaker constant. The macroscopic vdW force is determined by the Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale 6 properties of the materials. 1993) and sodium chloride (Meyer & Amer, 1990). The AFM has also been used to Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale 2 investigate the