Kinetic contrast in atomic force microscopy

Abstract

The mechanism of the formation of phase contrast in atomic force microscopy (AFM) is studied for various conditions of an oscillating tip interacting with the surface. A phase shift is detected in oscillations of the resonating AFM tip during its interaction with the substrate surface when the AFM tip moves over the surface. We substantiate kinetic mechanism of the formation of phase contrast in AFM, which is initiated when the velocity of the AFM tip moving over the substrate surface increases as a result of increasing friction force. A dependence of the kinetic contrast in AFM on the effective roughness of the surface is discovered. Images of the distribution of copper impurity over the silicon surface under atmospheric conditions are obtained using the method of kinetic phase contrast in AFM.