Study On Artifacts In AFM Images

Atomic force microscope(AFM) is used extensively in material science and life science and has made much progress in nanotechnology since invented.However,AFM images are usually affected by a variety of artifacts due to either the microscope design and operation mode or external environmental factors.It's necessary to analyze causes of different kinds of artifacts and identify them accurately in order to avoid emergences of them.Also,it's an important part of AFM imaging technology.The development of microscopes and the principles of different kinds of microscopes were introduced at the beginning of this paper,then the principle,operation modes, advantages and disadvantages of AFM was described with details.Causes of some artifacts were analyzed with the combination of theoretical bases and experimental results,including the nonlinearities of scanner,finite size of probes, environmental noises,setting of scanning parameters and software of image processing.The characteristics of different kinds of artifacts and ways of identification were summarized,and corresponding solutions were mentioned.Optical lever is an important means as the feedback in AFM systems,but there is a disadvantage with the optical load.It can cause an artifact of pattern fringes in images of samples whose surfaces are highly reflective.The cause of this kind of artifact was proved with optical interference theory and the characteristics of the artifact were analyzed.It showed pattern fringes extend perpendicularly to the cantilever,the width of pattern fringes is mainly decided by system structure.