Low temperature Atomic Force Microscopy-A Review

Atomic force microscope (AFM) is successfully utilized to image a broad range of thin film specimens because it can image nonconductive and soft material.Since the invention of the AFM, a lot of progress has been made in imaging thin films.Operation at low temperatures brings the benefits of low thermal drift and low thermal noise, which are required for high-resolution measurements.Due to all these benefits cryogenic AFM was developed.The system operates at liquid nitrogen temperatures, and aims to reduce the main intrinsic resolution reducing effects of AFM imaging by freezing samples and imaging them at sub zero temperatures.Further studies on biomolecules and the effects of sub zero temperatures, especially of ice formation on biomolecules structure need to be carried out before this system is routinely used for molecular imaging.The surface morphology of the thin films of In 2 O 3 ,ITO and PCMO were studied by Atomic Force Microscopy.AFM showed good surface morphology with decreasing RMS area roughness and Line roughness for all above three materials.