Imaging spectroscopy with the atomic force microscope

Force curve imaging spectroscopy involves acquiring a force–distance curve at each pixel of an atomic force microscope image. Processing of the resulting data yields images of sample hardness and tip-sample adhesion. These images resemble Z modulation images and the sum of forward and reverse friction images, respectively, and like them exhibit a number of potentially misleading contrast mechanisms. In particular, XY tip motion has a pronounced effect on hardness images and the meniscus force on adhesion images.