High-speed dynamic atomic force microscopy by using a Q-controlled cantilever eigenmode as an actuator

Abstract

We present a high-speed operating method with feedback to be used in dynamic atomic force microscope (AFM) systems. In this method we do not use an actuator that has to be employed to move the tip or the sample as in conventional AFM setups. Instead, we utilize a Q-controlled eigenmode of an AFM cantilever to perform the function of the actuator. Simulations show that even with an ordinary tapping-mode cantilever, imaging speed can be increased by about 2 orders of magnitude compared to conventional dynamic AFM imaging.