Contact resonance atomic force microscopy imaging in air and water using photothermal excitation
- Asylum Research, an Oxford Instruments Company, Santa Barbara, California 93117 (United States)
Contact Resonance Force Microscopy (CR-FM) is a leading atomic force microscopy technique for measuring viscoelastic nano-mechanical properties. Conventional piezo-excited CR-FM measurements have been limited to imaging in air, since the “forest of peaks” frequency response associated with acoustic excitation methods effectively masks the true cantilever resonance. Using photothermal excitation results in clean contact, resonance spectra that closely match the ideal frequency response of the cantilever, allowing unambiguous and simple resonance frequency and quality factor measurements in air and liquids alike. This extends the capabilities of CR-FM to biologically relevant and other soft samples in liquid environments. We demonstrate CR-FM in air and water on both stiff silicon/titanium samples and softer polystyrene-polyethylene-polypropylene polymer samples with the quantitative moduli having very good agreement between expected and measured values.
- OSTI ID:
- 22482744
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 86, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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