Abstract
The atomic force microscope (AFM) has high observation resolution and operation precision, which plays an irreplaceable role in the characterization of nanomaterials and the assembly of nanodevices. The selection of AFM scan area depends on an optics microscope, whose resolution is generally no more than 200 nm due to the limitation of wavelength of visible light. Therefore, it is extreme challenge to relocate the AFM probe precisely to the initial scan area when the AFM probe is replaced or the sample is moved. In this paper, we study and present a new label-free method for the relocation of AFM probe. This method can cope with the variation of relative position between the AFM probe tip and target sample, which is caused by the angle rotation and position offset. Two easily-recognized features on the sample substrate are used as the reference points to realize the blind location of AFM probe with micron scale precision based on the principle of coordinate transformation. The high precision relocation of nano targets is obtained through matching AFM images and modifying the scanning parameters. The main advantage of this method is that the special man-made marks at the target sample area are not necessary. The relocation process of AFM probe is simple and rapid, with a wide location range and high accuracy. Experiments demonstrate that this method is very efficient to track the nanospheres, SWCNTs and nanoscratch.
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call