3.6 The application of vsi (vertical scanning interferometry) to  (Page 6/8)

High energy beam electrons are elastic scattered back from the surface. This type of signal gives information about chemical composition of the surface because the energy of backscattered electrons depends on the weight of atoms within the interaction layer. Also this type of electrons can form secondary electrons and escape from the surface or travel father into the sample than the secondary. The SEM image formed is the result of the intensity of the secondary electron emission from the sample at each x,y data point during the scanning of the surface.

Atomic force microscopy

AFM is a very popular tool to study surface dissolution. AFM set up consists of scanning a sharp tip on the end of a flexible cantilever which moves across a sample surface. The tips typically have an end radius of 2 to 20 nm, depending on tip type. When the tip touch the surface the forces of these interactions leads to deflection of a cantilever. The interaction between tip and sample surface involve mechanical contact forces, van der Waals forces, capillary forces, chemical bonding, electrostatic forces, magnetic forces etc. The deflection of a cantilever is usually measured by reflecting a laser beam off the back of the cantilever into a split photodiode detector. A schematic drawing of AFM can be seen in [link] . The two most commonly used modes of operation are contact mode AFM and tapping mode AFM, which are conducted in air or liquid environments.

Working under the contact mode AFM scans the sample while monitoring the change in cantilever deflection with the split photodiode detector. Loop maintains a constant cantilever reflection by vertically moving the scanner to get a constant signal. The distance which the scanner goes by moving vertically at each x,y data point is stored by the computer to form the topographic image of the sample surface. Working under the tapping mode AFM oscillates the cantilever at its resonance frequency (typically~300 kHz) and lightly “taps” the tip on the surface during scanning. The electrostatic forces increase when tip gets close to the sample surface, therefore the amplitude of the oscillation decreases. The laser deflection method is used to detect the amplitude of cantilever oscillation. Similar to the contact mode, feedback loop maintains a constant oscillation amplitude by moving the scanner vertically at every x,y data point. Recording this movement forms the topographical image. The advantage of tapping mode over contact mode is that it eliminates the lateral, shear forces present in contact mode. This enables tapping mode to image soft, fragile, and adhesive surfaces without damaging them while work under contact mode allows the damage to occur.

Comparison of techniques

All techniques described above are widely used in studying of surface nano- and micromorphology. However, each method has its own limitations and the proper choice of analytical technique depends on features of analyzed surface and primary goals of research.