H.

Mohan Chand - ST118240

1.Non- Contact AFM

Working Principle
In NC-AFM a sharp probe is moved close (order of Angstroms) to the
surface under study, the probe is then raster scanned across the surface, the
image is then constructed from the force interactions during the scan. The probe
is connected to a resonator, usually a silicon cantilever or a quartz crystal
resonator. During in measurements the sensor is driven so that it oscillates. The
force interactions such as Van der Waals force, dipole-dipole force, and other
forces are measured either by measuring the change in amplitude of the
oscillation at a constant frequency just off resonance (amplitude modulation) or
by measuring the change in resonant frequency directly using a feedback circuit
(usually a phased-locked loop) to always drive the sensor on resonance
(frequency modulation).

Construction of cantilever in nc-AFM

The resonator is usually a piezoelectric element on the cantilever holder
or the cantilever gets a ferromagnetic coating and is controlled by AC magnetic
field. Usually cantilevers are made from silicon and are more stiff then contact
type AFM ~40N/m and resonant frequency of ~200Khz. By doping the silicon,
the sensor can be made conductive to allow simultaneous scanning tunnelling
microscopy (STM) and nc-AFM operation. A qPlus sensor is used in many ultra-
high vacuum nc-AFMs.

Qplus sensor to detect the frequency

Modes of operation
Frequency Modulation
It is a mode of nc-AFM where the change in resonant frequency of the
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sensor is tracked directly, by always exciting the sensor on resonance. To

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 H. Mohan Chand - ST118240

maintain excitation on resonance the electronics must keep a 90 phase

difference between the excitation and response of the sensor. This is either
done by driving the sensor with the deflection signal phase shifted by 90, or by
using an advanced phase-locked loop which can lock to a specific phase. The
microscope can then use the change in resonant frequency as the SPM
reference channel, either in feedback mode, or it can be recorded directly in
constant height mode.

Amplitude Modulation
In this mode, the sensor is excited just off resonance. By exciting the
sensor just above its resonant frequency, it is possible to detect forces which
change the resonant frequency by monitoring the amplitude of oscillation. An
attractive force on the probe causes a decrease in the sensors resonant
frequency, thus the driving frequency is further from resonance and the
amplitude decreases, the opposite is true for a repulsive force. The microscopes
control electronics can then use amplitude as the SPM reference channel, either
in feedback mode, or it can be recorded directly in constant height mode.
Amplitude modulation can fail if the non-conservative forces (damping)
change during the experiment, as this changes the amplitude of the resonance
peak itself, which will be interpreted as a change in resonant frequency. Another
potential problem with amplitude modulation is that a sudden change to a more
repulsive (less attractive) force can shift the resonance past the drive frequency
causing it to decrease again. In constant height mode, this will just lead to an
image artefact, but in feedback mode the feedback will read this as a stronger
attractive force, causing positive feedback until the feedback saturates.

An advantage of amplitude modulation is that there is only one feedback

loop (the topography feedback loop) compared to three in frequency
modulation (the phase/frequency loop, the amplitude loop, and the topography
loop), making both operation and implementation much easier. Amplitude
modulation, however, is rarely used in vacuum as the Q of the sensor is usually
so high that the sensor oscillates many times before the amplitude settles to its
new value, thus slowing down operation.
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2. Advantages and Disadvantages of nc-AFM

Advantages:
Little to no preparation need for the samples in AFM and optical
microscope unlike SEM and TEM.
The samples need not be conductive like in SEM/TEM.
Can produce 3 dimensional images unlike SEM/TEM and optical
microscope.
Can be operated in vacuum, air and liquid.
New type of AFM called VideoAFM can take 15 frames per second
making it faster than conventional AFM and also SEM/TEM although it
cant quite match optical microscope.
The high-resolution images under ultra-high vacuum from AFM are
quite similar to STEM or even better. Hence we can say AFM has very
high resolution compared to SEM and optical microscopes.
The contrast in the images produced by AFM of flat samples is very good
compared to SEM/TEM and optical microscope
Disadvantages:
Conventional AFM takes very long scanning time ~1-5 min, whereas the
SEM/TEM take very less time.
DOF is very low, usually 10-20 um and ranging to 100um which is still
bad compared to SEM which has DOF in the order of millimetres. Optical
microscope has similar DOF.TEM has the lowest DOF as the sample itself
is very thin.
The area of sample is also very less ~150x150 um compared to
SEM/TEM which is in the order of square millimetres, and optical
microscope can fit samples in the order of centimetres.
Old AFM are effected by magnetic noise like hysteresis.
Image artefacts can be a problem because of unsuitable tip, poor
environment and sample itself.
Cant measure steep walls or overhangs.

3.Preparation of Gold nanoparticles for AFM

No special preparation is needed to characterise colloidal gold
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nanoparticles by AFM. Although to get high density of homogeneously

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distributed single colloidal particles methods like spin coating are used.
 H. Mohan Chand - ST118240

Reference:
Gold Nanoparticles on Modified Glass Surface as Height Calibration Standard for
Atomic Force Microscopy Operating in Contact and Tapping Mode - AZoNano
http://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1436
http://machinemakers.typepad.com/machine-makers/2011/05/advantages-and-
disadvantages-of-atomic-force-microscopy.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-contact_atomic_force_microscopy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic-force_microscopy
http://www.parkafm.com/images/spmmodes/standard/True-Non-Contact-Mode.pdf

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