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Harnessing the damping properties of materials for high-speed atomic force microscopy

Nature Nanotechnology volume 11, pages 147–151 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

The success of high-speed atomic force microscopy in imaging molecular motors1, enzymes2 and microbes3 in liquid environments suggests that the technique could be of significant value in a variety of areas of nanotechnology. However, the majority of atomic force microscopy experiments are performed in air, and the tapping-mode detection speed of current high-speed cantilevers is an order of magnitude lower in air than in liquids. Traditional approaches to increasing the imaging rate of atomic force microscopy have involved reducing the size of the cantilever4,5, but further reductions in size will require a fundamental change in the detection method of the microscope6,7,8. Here, we show that high-speed imaging in air can instead be achieved by changing the cantilever material. We use cantilevers fabricated from polymers, which can mimic the high damping environment of liquids. With this approach, SU-8 polymer cantilevers are developed that have an imaging-in-air detection bandwidth that is 19 times faster than those of conventional cantilevers of similar size, resonance frequency and spring constant.

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Figure 1: Why HS-AFM imaging in air has been slower than in fluid.
Figure 2: HS-AFM cantilever design from a materials perspective.
Figure 3: Polymer cantilevers and their mechanical response.
Figure 4: HS-AFM tapping-mode imaging in air using small SU-8 cantilevers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank C. Rashti, P. Odermatt and M. Dukic-Pjanic for their assistance. The authors thank the staff of the Centre of Micronanotechnology (CMi) at EPFL for microfabrication assistance and the Atelier de l'institut de production et robotique at EPFL for the fabrication of research equipment. This work was funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2011 under grant agreement 286146 and the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/ERC grant agreement 307338, and the Swiss National Science Foundation through grants 205321_134786 and 205320_152675.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Bio- and Nano-Instrumentation, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Jonathan D. Adams, Blake W. Erickson, Adrian Nievergelt & Georg E. Fantner

  2. Microsystems Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jonas Grossenbacher & Juergen Brugger

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  1. Jonathan D. Adams
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Contributions

J.D.A. designed experiments, built instrumentation, performed experiments, analysed data and wrote the paper. B.W.E. built instrumentation and performed experiments. J.G. performed experiments. J.B. designed experiments and coordinated research. A.N. built instrumentation and performed experiments. G.E.F. designed experiments, coordinated research and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Georg E. Fantner.

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Adams, J., Erickson, B., Grossenbacher, J. et al. Harnessing the damping properties of materials for high-speed atomic force microscopy. Nature Nanotech 11, 147–151 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.254

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