TIP ARTIFACTS IN SCANNING FORCE MICROSCOPY

Since its invention in 1986, scanning force microscopy (SFM) has experienced great success as a characterization method for topography on small scales. In spite of the enormous potential of the method, it is limited by the quality of the tip used for probing the surface topography. Convolutions of non-ideal tip shapes with the real topography and tip bending, flexing and jumping effects produce artefacts in the resulting images. A brief description of the preparation and characteristics of the most commonly used SFM tips is given. A variety of different artefacts originating from tip properties is presented and illustrated with selected scanning force micrographs. Methods to minimize tip artefacts in SFM images are described.