Enhancing Sensitivity of Atomic Force Microscopy for Characterizing Surface Chemical Heterogeneity

Published

February 26, 2003

Author(s)

Xiaohong Gu, Mark R. VanLandingham, Michael J. Fasolka, Jonathan W. Martin, J Y. Jean, Tinh Nguyen

Abstract

In this study, a well-controlled humidity system is used to enhance the sensitivity of A-FM in characterizing surface chemical heterogeneity. The relative humidity of the tip-sample environment is controlled using a humidity generator and a novel small-volume environmental chamber designed and fabricated. The relative humidity in the chamber can be controlled from nearly 0 % relative humidity (RH) up to 95 % RH at room temperature. The effects of relative humidity on AFM image contrast are studied using a patterned SAM sample and polymers withalternating regions of hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials. The results clearly demonstrate that the image contrast between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions of a surface is substantially increased by elevated relative humidity in the measurement environment.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Adhesion Society

Conference Dates

February 23-26, 2003

Conference Title

Adhesion Society Meeting

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), humidity, relative humidity (RH)

Citation

Gu, X. , VanLandingham, M. , Fasolka, M. , Martin, J. , Jean, J. and Nguyen, T. (2003), Enhancing Sensitivity of Atomic Force Microscopy for Characterizing Surface Chemical Heterogeneity, Proceedings of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Adhesion Society, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860482 (Accessed October 7, 2025)