Abstract
In this work, the tip convolution effect in atomic force microscopy is revisited to illustrate the capabilities of cubic objects for determination of the tip shape and size. Using molecular-based cubic nanoparticles as a reference, a two-step tip reconstruction process has been developed. First, the tip-to-face angle is estimated by means of an analysis of the convolution error while the tip radius is extracted from the experimental profiles. The results obtained are in good agreement with specification of the tip supplier even though the experiments have been conducted using real distribution of nanoparticles with dispersion in size and aspect ratio. This demonstrates the reliability of our method and opens the door for a more accurate tip reconstruction by using calibration standards.
Highlights
Background and experimental approachesDefinition of the Atomic force microscopy (AFM) lateral resolution in terms of mathematical convolution
As in the case of the Blind Tip Reconstruction (BTR), most of the methods for description of Tip Convolution (TC) are based on mathematical morphology or on geometrical considerations, where the tip and surface shapes are approached to analytical functions such as circumferences or p arabolas[31,32,33,34]
During this interaction the corners behave as delta-like functions, each one operating over a half-side of the tip, as we demonstrated by reproducing numerically an inverted image of the tip from simulated AFM profiles
Summary
Background and experimental approachesDefinition of the AFM lateral resolution in terms of mathematical convolution. The lateral resolution in AFM images is limited by the area of the tip in contact with the inspected object, which depends on diverse factors such as the size of the probe or the height of the object.
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