Fraunhofer-gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandten Forschung E.v.

Michael Reinstädtler

Walter Arnold

Ute Rabe

Volker Scherer

A method for exciting free torsional vibrations a spring cantilever, which is clamped in on one side and has a longitudinal extension, of an atomic force microscope (AFM) is disclosed. The invention provides

Method and device for the contactless excitation of torsional vibrations in a one-sidedly clamped-in spring cantilever of an atomic force microscope

A method for examining a surface of a sample is described using an atomic force scanning microscope (AFM) comprising a cantilever with a longitudinal extension along which a measuring tip is disposed, which is selectively arranged relative to the sample surface by a means for driving and whose spatial position is detected using a sensor unit. Vibration excitation is conducted at excitation amplitudes which produce inside the cantilever torsional amplitudes with maximum values which form a largely (substantively) constant plateau value despite increasing excitation amplitudes and the resonance spectra, in a range of maximum values of the torsional amplitudes, a widening of the resonance spectrum which is determinable by a plateau width. The resonance spectra, preferably the plateau value, the plateau width and/or the gradient of the respective resonance spectra are used for examining the sample.

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Sulzbach, Germany

Michael Reinstädtler