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Comparison of Different Excitation Schemes in Bimodal Atomic Force Microscopy in Air and Liquid Environments

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Abstract

Bimodal amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) is widely used in nanoscale topography and compositional contrast imaging for various materials. In this work, we use computational simulation to compare the dynamic behaviors of AFM cantilevers in three commonly used excitation schemes in bimodal AM-AFM, i.e., the cantilever base excitation, the cantilever end excitation, and the uniform excitation along the length of the cantilever, in both air and liquid environments. The amplitude and phase spectroscopy curves and the frequency responses acquired from the three excitation schemes are compared and discussed. The results would be useful in guiding the selection of excitation methods and the optimization of imaging conditions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant No. 11502182. This work is also supported by “the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WUT: 2020IB015)”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Key Laboratory of Theory and Application of Advanced Materials Mechanics, School of Science, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Zhenyang Huang, Pengfei Wen & Xilong Zhou

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  1. Zhenyang Huang
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  2. Pengfei Wen
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  3. Xilong Zhou
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Correspondence to Xilong Zhou.

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Huang, Z., Wen, P. & Zhou, X. Comparison of Different Excitation Schemes in Bimodal Atomic Force Microscopy in Air and Liquid Environments. Acta Mech. Solida Sin. 34, 163–173 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10338-020-00203-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10338-020-00203-x

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