Abstract
In this study, we investigate the limitations and influence of various factors on the performance of trolling mode atomic force microscopy (TR-AFM). For this purpose, at first, based on the governing equations of motion and using a conventional control method, a simulation tool capable of correctly simulating the imaging procedure in TR-AFM is developed. Then based on the developed simulation tool, imaging of different surfaces is performed, and the effect of different factors on the image quality is analyzed. The flexibility of nanoneedle in TR-AFM has unpredictable effects on dynamics of system as well as imaging performance. One problem in imaging is due to coexistence of two stable responses (bistability) which can reduce the accuracy of the images. A qualitative investigation of the nonlinear behavior of the TR-AFM reveals that owing to the nonlinear characteristics of the tip–sample interactions, there often exist two stable responses for a given set of parameters. Hence, the possibility of multiple stable responses and their effect on the imaging performance of various surfaces have been thoroughly investigated. Moreover, the influence of horizontal displacement of nanoneedle tip on image quality at different scanning speeds in the both presence and absence of measurement noise are examined. Finally, the scanning operation for a 3D sample using a 3D resonator model considering nanoneedle tip out-of-plane displacement in a real-time operating system is simulated, and the effect of tip out-of-plane displacement and cantilever scanning direction on the image quality are investigated.
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Abbreviations
- \(a_{i}\)(i = 1,2,…,36):
-
The system parameters (are presented in Appendix 1)
- \(b_{b}\) :
-
Microbeam width
- \(b_{i}\)(i = 1,2,…,16):
-
The coefficients of the ordinary differential equations governing the resonator in terms of the system parameters (are presented in Appendix 1)
- \(c_{eu}\) :
-
Euler constant
- \(p_{i}\) (i = 1,2,…,18):
-
The coefficients of the dimensionless state-space equations governing the resonator in terms of the system parameters (are presented in Appendix 1)
- \(C_{a}\) :
-
Air damping coefficient
- \(C_{{d_{i} }}\)(i = 1,2):
-
Transverse and longitudinal drag coefficients of the nanoneedle moving in liquid
- \(C_{m}\) :
-
Damping coefficient of the meniscus
- \(C_{s}\) :
-
Microbeam structural damping coefficient
- \(d\) :
-
Piezo base displacement
- \(D_{{{\text{mol}}}}\) :
-
Molecular diameter
- \({\text{EI}}_{b}\) :
-
Microbeam flexural rigidity
- \({\text{EI}}_{n}\) :
-
Nanoneedle flexural rigidity
- \(f_{b} \left( . \right)\) :
-
First assumed mode shape corresponding to the microbeam
- \(f_{n} \left( . \right)\) :
-
First assumed mode shape corresponding to the nanoneedle
- \(F_{{h_{s} }}\) :
-
Hydrostatic buoyant force
- \(F_{m}\) :
-
Meniscus force
- \(F_{{m_{s} }}\) :
-
Hydrostatic meniscus force
- \(F_{V}\) :
-
Tip-sample force
- \(g\left( . \right)\) :
-
A polynomial utilized to define a change of variable
- \(g_{a}\) :
-
Gravity acceleration
- \(h_{b}\) :
-
Microbeam height
- \(h_{m}\) :
-
Meniscus height
- \(H_{{{\text{tm}}}}\) :
-
Distance from the tip center of mass to bottom of the microbeam
- \(I_{{{\text{tm}}}}\) :
-
Tip-mass principal moment of inertia corresponding to its principal axes parallel to \(\hat{k}_{2}\) unit-vector
- \(K_{m}\) :
-
Stiffness of the meniscus
- \(L_{0}\) :
-
Length of the submerged part of the nanoneedle in liquid
- \(L_{b}\) :
-
Microbeam length
- \(L_{{{\text{dl}}}}\) :
-
A base length of the order of 10 nm to create dimensionless parameters
- \(L_{n}\) :
-
Nanoneedle length
- \(L_{{{\text{tm}}}}\) :
-
Tip-mass length
- \(m_{{{\text{tm}}}}\) :
-
Mass of the tip mass
- \(q_{{{\text{nt}}}}\) :
-
Transverse displacement of the nanoneedle end relative to the tip mass
- \(R_{n}\) :
-
Nanoneedle radius
- \(R_{{{\text{pt}}}}\) :
-
Probe tip radius
- \(y_{b}\) :
-
Vertical displacement of the microbeam end
- \(y_{s}\) :
-
Vertical position (along \(\hat{j}_{r}\) unit vector) of the sample surface in the fixed reference frame (we also name this parameter as tip-sample distance)
- \(y_{{{\text{ts}}}}\) :
-
Vertical nanoneedle tip-sample distance
- \(\alpha\) :
-
Angle of the microbeam orientation relative to the horizon (shown in Fig. 1.)
- \(\beta\) :
-
Excitation angle of the microbeam
- \({\Lambda }\) :
-
Excitation amplitude
- \({\Lambda }_{0}\) :
-
Free oscillation amplitude
- \({\Lambda }_{{{\text{dl}}}}\) :
-
Dimensionless excitation amplitude
- \(\rho_{b}\) :
-
Microbeam density
- \(\rho_{{{\text{liq}}}}\) :
-
Liquid density
- \(\rho_{n}\) :
-
Nanoneedle mass per unit length
- \(\rho_{{{\text{tm}}}}\) :
-
Tip-mass density
- \(\tau\) :
-
Dimensionless time variable
- \(\omega\) :
-
Excitation frequency
- \(\omega_{1}\) :
-
The first natural frequency of the microbeam
- \({\Omega }\) :
-
Dimensionless excitation frequency
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Appendix 1: Coefficients of the derived mathematical model
Appendix 1: Coefficients of the derived mathematical model
The coefficients \(b_{i}\) (i = 1,2,…,16) are as follows:
where \(c_{{\upalpha }} = {\text{cos}}\left( {\upalpha } \right)\), \(c_{\alpha \beta } = {\text{cos}}\left( {{\upbeta } - {\upalpha }} \right)\), and \(\hat{u}\left( . \right)\) is unit-step function (Heaviside), \(g\left( x \right)\) is a fourth-order polynomial the constants of which are obtained by satisfying the following equations:
moreover, the coefficients \(a_{i}\) (i = 1,2,…,36) are as follows:
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Sajjadi, M., Chahari, M. & Nejat Pishkenari, H. Imaging performance of trolling mode atomic force microscopy: investigation of effective parameters. Arch Appl Mech 92, 1551–1570 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-022-02129-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-022-02129-x