Modern Trends in AFM of Polymers (AN84)

Initially introduced as an accessory to scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) has become an advanced and most valuable scanning probe technique broadly used in academic and industrial research. A superior feature of AFM - the high-resolution visualization of surfaces - defines most of its applications. On one hand, AFM microscopes are employed for imaging of individual molecules and manipulations of nanometer-scale objects. On the other hand, they are widely applied for quality control in a number of industries where AFM is used for measurements of surface roughness and for quantitative examination of shapes/profiles of technologically important surface structures, such as DVD and CD patterns.

Over the past decade, many researchers working with soft matter (biological objects and polymers) have recognized the importance of this method. Nanometer-scale features as small as individual macromolecules, their assemblies, and larger-scale morphologies, can be easily recognized in AFM images. In addition, the fact that the stiffness of AFM probes is comparable to the stiffness of polymer materials makes it possible to distinguish sample locations with different mechanical properties. In this way, various components of heterogeneous polymer materials can be identified in the images.