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Probe microscopy

Images from below the surface

Nature Nanotechnology volume 5, pages 101–102 (2010)Cite this article

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An atomic force microscope can reveal a range of subsurface information about a sample through mechanical excitation of both the sample and the tip.

Imaging beneath the surface of a sample has always been a challenge in microscopy. Typically, high-resolution images of a subsurface structure are obtained by slicing the material and observing the newly created surface, but this approach can also damage the sample. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to study the morphology of a wide variety of surfaces at the nanoscale, but subsurface imaging has usually been considered beyond the scope of these instruments. Writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Laurene Tetard, Ali Passian and Thomas Thundat of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee now report that an AFM can be used to image subsurface structures with nanoscale resolution without damaging them1.

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Figure 1: In mode-synthesized AFM both the tip (probe) and the sample are mechanically excited by signals that contain a number of known frequency components (modes).

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ricardo Garcia is in the Instituto de Microelectrónica de Madrid, CSIC, Isaac Newton 8, 28760 Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain. ricardo.garcia@imm.cnm.csic.es,

    Ricardo Garcia

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  1. Ricardo Garcia
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Garcia, R. Images from below the surface. Nature Nanotech 5, 101–102 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.14

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