An improved wedge calibration method for lateral force in atomic force microscopy

An improved wedge calibration method for quantitative lateral force measurement in atomic force microscopy is presented. The improved method differs from the original one in several aspects. It utilizes a much simpler, commercially available, calibration grating and can be performed at any single specified applied load. It enables calibration of all types of probes, both integrated with sharp tips, and colloidal with any radius of curvature up to 2 mum. The improved method also simplifies considerably the calculation of the calibration factor by using flat facets on the calibration grating to cancel out system errors. A scheme for the data processing for on-line calibration of the lateral force is also presented. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.