DOI: 10.1063/1.352845. Manipulation of van der Waals forces to improve image resolution in atomic-force microscopy

Manipulation of van der Waals forces to improve image resolution in atomic-force microscopy

10.1063/1.352845

Crossref journal-article

AIP Publishing

Journal of Applied Physics (317)

Abstract

Although the atomic force microscope (AFM) resembles superficially the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), its imaging resolution is in general much coarser. For the AFM, long-range interactions—most notably the van der Waals force—imply that image resolution is set by the macroscopic tip radius rather than by a single atom, as with the STM. Experimentally, we show that van der Waals forces can be measured using an AFM. By immersing tip and sample in an appropriate fluid, we can effectively eliminate the van der Waals force, leading to a marked improvement in AFM image quality.

Bibliography

Hutter, J. L., & Bechhoefer, J. (1993). Manipulation of van der Waals forces to improve image resolution in atomic-force microscopy. Journal of Applied Physics, 73(9), 4123â4129.

Authors 2

Jeffrey L. Hutter (first)
John Bechhoefer (additional)

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Dates

Type	When
Created	23 years ago (July 26, 2002, 9:46 a.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 6 months ago (Feb. 4, 2024, 11:50 a.m.)
Indexed	1 week, 1 day ago (Aug. 12, 2025, 6:14 p.m.)
Issued	32 years, 3 months ago (May 1, 1993)
Published	32 years, 3 months ago (May 1, 1993)
Published Print	32 years, 3 months ago (May 1, 1993)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Hutter_1993, title={Manipulation of van der Waals forces to improve image resolution in atomic-force microscopy}, volume={73}, ISSN={1089-7550}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.352845}, DOI={10.1063/1.352845}, number={9}, journal={Journal of Applied Physics}, publisher={AIP Publishing}, author={Hutter, Jeffrey L. and Bechhoefer, John}, year={1993}, month=may, pages={4123–4129} }

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