Spatial spectrograms of vibrating atomic force microscopy cantilevers coupled to sample surfaces

Abstract

Many advanced dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques such as contact resonance, force modulation, piezoresponse force microscopy, electrochemical strain microscopy, and AFM infrared spectroscopy exploit the dynamic response of a cantilever in contact with a sample to extract local material properties. Achieving quantitative results in these techniques usually requires the assumption of a certain shape of cantilever vibration. We present a technique that allows in-situ measurements of the vibrational shape of AFM cantilevers coupled to surfaces. This technique opens up unique approaches to nanoscale material property mapping, which are not possible with single point measurements alone.