Edge Effects and Coupling Effects in Atomic Force Microscope Images
摘要
The AFM images were obtained by an atomic force microscope (AFM) and transformed from the deformation of AFM micro cantilever probe. However, due to the surface topography and surface forces applied on the AFM tip of sample, the deformation of AFM probe results in obvious edge effects and coupling effects in the AFM images. The deformation of AFM probe was analyzed,the mechanism of the edge effects and the coupling effects was investigated, and their results in the AFM images were studied. It is demanstrated by the theoretical analysis and AFM experiments that the edge effects make lateral force images more clear than the topography images, also make extraction of frictional force force from lateral force images mare complex and difficult. While the coupling effects make the comparison between topography images and lateral force images mare advantage to acquire precise topography information by AFM.