High Speed Scanning Property Measurements

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a ubiquitous surface science tool, but the slow speed of standard equipment remains a continuing limitation for widespread application. A novel AFM variation is reported here for High-Speed Scanning Property Mapping (HS-SPM), uniquely allowing full-frame nanoscale-resolution image acquisition in $<$3 seconds with tip speeds $>$1 cm/sec. Using off-the-shelf commercial equipment, the method combines acoustic and AFM concepts: the sensitivity of AFM-cantilever contact resonances to materials properties, and conversely the insensitivity of these resonances to contact force variations due to rapidly raster scanning an AFM probe. The method is applicable to a broad range of materials and properties, as demonstrated by mechanical property maps of bacterial membrane fragments and integrated circuits; magnetic property maps of domains in magnetic hard drives; and movies of ferroelectric domain reading and writing with sub-second frame rates for dynamic domain nucleation and growth studies. HS-SPM thereby provides a novel yet off-the-shelf solution for both significantly enhanced throughput in nanoscale materials property mapping, as well as dynamic surface studies with previously inaccessible time constants.