Skip to main content
Log in

Effects of Retracting Velocities on the Vibration of Atomic Force Microscope Probe on Different Surfaces

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Vibration Engineering & Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

During atomic force microscope operation, electrostatic, capillary, and van der Waals forces contribute significantly to AFM tip–sample interaction. This paper presents the effects of probe retracting velocities on the tip–sample interaction and reveals the discrepancies of the interaction measured from the surfaces of different hardness and wettability.

Methods

In this work, the effects of retracting velocities on probe vibration were studied by simultaneously investigating variation of the force, amplitude, and phase with vertical displacement (fd, ad and pd curves) upon AFM tip leaving a silicon surface. The same measurement was also conducted on the samples of different hardness and wettability to investigate their effects on the interaction.

Results

It is found that the slopes of the fd, ad or pd curves decrease with the increase of retracting velocity. In addition, the slope of the ad curve collected on the hydrophilic silicon surface presents an abrupt change during the amplitude increase. Besides, the amplitude and phase have a long changing process with probe displacement when the probe is retracted from a polyvinyl chloride surface.

Conclusion

The results indicate that the increase in the velocity causes the tip–sample interaction to decrease more slowly with the probe displacement, and the interaction is greater as the probe retracts from soft or hydrophilic surface under the same conditions. The study provides an opportunity for deeper understanding tip–sample interaction and may shed new light on comparing the hardness and wettability of materials through investigating AFM probe vibrations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

References

  1. Johnson D, Hilal N (2015) Characterisation and quantification of membrane surface properties using atomic force microscopy: a comprehensive review. Desalination 356:149–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Meng F, Liao B, Liang S et al (2010) Morphological visualization, componential characterization and microbiological identification of membrane fouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). J Membr Sci 361:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Urbakh M, Meyer E (2010) The renaissance of friction. Nat Mater 9:8–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. O’Callahan BT, Yan J, Menges F et al (2018) Photoinduced tip−sample forces for chemical Nanoimaging and spectroscopy. Nano Lett 18:5499–5505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dufrêne YF, Ando T, Garcia R et al (2017) Imaging modes of atomic force microscopy for application in molecular and cell biology. Nat Nanotechnol 12:295–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dehnert M, Magerle R (2018) 3D depth profiling of the interaction between an AFM tip and fluid polymer solutions†. Nanoscale 10:5695–5707

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Major RC, Houston JE, McGrath MJ et al (2006) Viscous water meniscus under nanoconfinement. Phys Rev Lett 96(17):177803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Stamou D, Duschl C, Johannsmann D (2000) Long-range attraction between colloidal spheres at the air-water interface: the consequence of an irregular meniscus. Phys Rev E 62(4):5263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Efremov YM, Wang WH, Hardy SD et al (2017) Measuring nanoscale viscoelastic parameters of cells directly from AFM force-displacement curves. Sci Rep 17(1):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  10. Liu J, Li K (2021) Sparse identification of time-space coupled distributed dynamic load. Mech Syst Signal Process 148(1):107177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Liu J, Sun X, Han X et al (2015) Dynamic load identification for stochastic structures based on Gegenbauer polynomial approximation and regularization method. Mech Syst Signal Process 56–57:35–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Kawai S, Foster AS, Björkman T et al (2016) Van der Waals interactions and the limits of isolated atom models at interfaces. Nat Commun 7:11559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Dagdeviren OE, Schwarz UD (2019) Accuracy of tip-sample interaction measurements using dynamic atomic force microscopy techniques: dependence on oscillation amplitude, interaction strength, and tip-sample distance. Rev Sci Instrum 90(3):033707

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Tamayo J, García R (1998) Relationship between phase shift and energy dissipation in tapping-mode scanning force microscopy. Appl Phys Lett 73(20):2926–2928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Martin Y, Williams CC, Wickramasinghe HK (1987) Atomic force microscope–force mapping and profiling on a sub 100-Å scale. J Appl Phys 61(10):4723–4729

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. García R, Paulo AS (2000) Amplitude curves and operating regimes in dynamic atomic force microscopy. Ultramicroscopy 82(1–4):79–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Korayem MH, Kavousi A, Ebrahimi N (2011) Dynamic analysis of tapping-mode AFM considering capillary force interactions. Scientia Iranica B 18(1):121–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hölscher H (2006) Quantitative measurement of tip-sample interactions in amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy. Appl Phys Lett 89(12):123109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kim Y, Yang YI, Choi I et al (2010) Dependence of approaching velocity on the force-distance curve in AFM analysis. Korean J Chem Eng 27(1):324–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Yan Y, Sun T, Liang Y et al (2007) Investigation on AFM-based micro/nano-CNC machining system. Int J Mach Tools Manuf 47:1651–1659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hou J, Liu L, Wang Z et al (2013) AFM-based robotic nano-hand for stable manipulation at nanoscale. IEEE Trans Autom Sci Eng 10(2):285–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Yu B, Qian L, Yu Z, Zhou Z (2009) Effects of tail group and chain length on the tribological behaviors of self-assembled dual-layer films in atmosphere and in vacuum. Tribol Lett 34(1):1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Santos S, Gadelrab KR, Silvernail A et al (2012) Energy dissipation distributions and dissipative atomic processes in amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy. Nanotechnology 23(12):125401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. García R, Paulo AS (1999) Attractive and repulsive tip-sample interaction regimes in tapping-mode atomic force microscopy. Phys Rev B 60(7):4961

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Haugstad G, Jones RR (1999) Mechanisms of dynamic force microscopy on polyvinyl alcohol: region-specific non-contact and intermittent contact regimes. Ultramicroscopy 76(1–2):77–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Delrio FW, Boer MPD, Knapp JA et al (2005) The role of van der Waals forces in adhesion of micromachined surfaces. Nat Mater 4(8):629–634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Blackman GS, Mate CM, Philpott MR (1990) Interaction Forces of a Sharp Tungsten Tip with Molecular Films on Silicon Surfaces. Phys Rev Lett 65(18):2270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Chen L, Yu X, Wang D (2007) Cantilever dynamics and quality factor control in AC mode AFM height measurements. Ultramicroscopy 107(4–5):275–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Martínez NF, García R (2006) Measuring phase shifts and energy dissipation with amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy. Nanotechnology 17(7):S167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Zamora RRM, Sanchez CM, Freire FL Jr, Prioli R (2004) Influence of capillary condensation of water in nanoscale friction. Physica Status Solidi (a) 201(5):850–856

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Symans MD, Charney FA, Whittaker AS et al (2008) Energy Dissipation Systems for Seismic Applications: Current Practice and Recent Developments. J Struct Eng 134(1):3–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Bhushan B, Liu H, Hsu SM (2004) Adhesion and friction studies of silicon and hydrophobic and low friction films and investigation of scale effect. J Tribol-Trans Asme 126(3):583–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Luna M, Colchero J, Baró AM (1998) Intermittent contact scanning force microscopy: the role of the liquid necks. Appl Phys Lett 72(26):3461–3463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Stifter T, Marti O, Bhushan B (2000) Theoretical investigation of the distance dependence of capillary and van der Waals forces in scanning force microscopy. Phys Rev B 60(20):13667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Tusset AM, Ribeiro MA, Lenz WB et al (2020) Time delayed feedback control applied in an atomic force microscopy (AFM) model in fractional-order. J Vib Eng Technol 8:327–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Hölscher H, Schwarz UD (2007) Theory of amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy with and without Q-Control. Int J Non-Linear Mech 42(4):608–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Jani N, Chakraborty G (2020) Parametric resonance in cantilever beam with feedback-induced base excitation. J Vib Eng Technol 9:291–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. García R, Pérez R (2002) Dynamic atomic force microscopy methods. Surf Sci Rep 47(6):197–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Flores P, Margarida M, Silva MT, Martins JM (2011) On the continuous contact force models for soft materials in multibody dynamics. Multibody SysDyn 25(3):357–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Hoffmann PM, Jeffery S, Pethica JB et al (2001) Energy dissipation in atomic force microscopy and atomic loss processes. Phys Rev Lett 87(26):265502

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like express thanks to Dr. Junhui Sun for his valuable comments.

Funding

The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51775462).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bingjun Yu.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Deng, L., Wu, L., Chen, P. et al. Effects of Retracting Velocities on the Vibration of Atomic Force Microscope Probe on Different Surfaces. J. Vib. Eng. Technol. 9, 1305–1315 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42417-021-00298-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42417-021-00298-7

Keywords

Navigation