Improved Application of Carbon Nanotube Atomic Force Microscopy Probes Using PeakForce Tapping Mode

In this work PeakForce tapping (PFT) imaging was demonstrated with carbon nanotube atomic force microscopy (CNT-AFM) probes; this imaging mode shows great promise for providing simple, stable imaging with CNT-AFM probes, which can be difficult to apply. The PFT mode is used with CNT-AFM probes to demonstrate high resolution imaging on samples with features in the nanometre range, including a Nioprobe calibration sample and gold nanoparticles on silicon, in order to demonstrate the modes imaging effectiveness, and to also aid in determining the diameter of very thin CNT-AFM probes. In addition to stable operation, the PFT mode is shown to eliminate “ringing” artefacts that often affect CNT-AFM probes in tapping mode near steep vertical step edges. This will allow for the characterization of high aspect ratio structures using CNT-AFM probes, an exercise which has previously been challenging with the standard tapping mode.