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I'm using a Multimode 8 with Nanoscope 8.10 software and E scanner. I got some problems when imaging some polymer deposit on silica or mica substrate in liquid with SCANASYST-FLUID+ tip. When scanning, the Z-piezo voltage value keeps increasing until eventually reaching the limit and I have to withdraw it. However after I withdraw, the vertical offset remains the same.
I check the tip catalogue and found there are two kinds of Scanasyst tip in fluid, one is sharp and the other is not. Is it because I am using the sharp one and scan on the hard surface like silica which cause the tip wear out and Z-piezo voltage increasing? How we choose these two kinds of tips based on our different samples?
The other thing is, normally we increase the scan rate to very high to get the atomic resolution image in contact mode, in QNM the scan rate seems can not over the 0.977 khz? How we get the atomic resolution image by manipulate some parameters?
Hi Lujie,
It could be that your sample is swelling and hence the piezo will reach its end.
It may be a good idea to start with a regular ScanAsyst fluid tip and if you can image your sample properly then try the "+" one. The "+" ones are indeed very sharp and even though I do not think that you wear it out on the mica to explain your effect you may effect your polymer.
In QNM the scanrate is limited by the host PC which needs time to extract the nanomechanical parameters from the datastream. This mode is not intended for atomic resolution imaging but there are plenty of examples of molecular resolution imaging. If you want to go for "atomic resolution" imaging on a lattice you may want to switch to contact mode.
Stefan
Hi, Stefan,
Thanks for your reply. Is this "+" tip suitable for harder sample like silica? Also is this sharper tip can get the high resolution compare with the normal one? That's the only difference of these two tips?
Lujie
The difference between the Fluid and Fluid+ probes is indeed the sharpness. Both are sharp compared to regular contact mode probes but the + is a bit sharper. A sharper probe may indeed provide you with higher lateral resolution and, yes, you can use it on hard samples.
Thanks, Stefan