Mapping and imaging for rapid atom discrimination: A study of frequency modulation atomic force microscopy

Abstract

We present, using frequency modulation atomic force microscopy, two methods for rapid atom discrimination. Both methods visualize chemical difference on difference atom sites. Signals corresponding to absolute minimum values of the obtainable frequency shift are used. In the first method, two-dimensional force mapping, quantitative force analysis for atom discrimination was demonstrated on a surface with three different surface atoms present. In the second method, we succeeded in imaging atom differences of the three atom species. Both methods enable rapid observations of differences in surface atoms compared to force spectroscopic measurements for atom discrimination in data acquisition and analysis.