Journal
MEASUREMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Volume 21, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/0957-0233/21/2/025502
Keywords
atomic force microscope; electrostatic interaction; cantilever
Funding
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG)
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The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a powerful tool for surface imaging at the nanometer scale and surface force measurements in the piconewton range. Among long-range surface forces, the electrostatic forces play a predominant role. They originate if the electric potentials of the substrate and of the tip of the AFM cantilever are different. A quantitative interpretation of the AFM signal is often difficult because it depends in a complicated fashion on the cantilever-tip-surface geometry. Since the electrostatic interaction is a long-range interaction, the cantilever, which is many microns from the surface, contributes to the total electrostatic force along with the tip. Here we present results of the electrostatic interaction between a conducting flat surface and horizontal or tilted cantilevers, with and without tips, at various distances from the surface. As addressed in a previous work, we show that the contribution of the cantilever to the overall force cannot be neglected. Based on a predictive model and on 3D confocal measurements, we discuss the influence of the tilting angle of the cantilever.
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