Deep Atomic Force Microscopy

The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) possesses several desirable imaging features including the ability to produce height profiles as well as two-dimensional images, in fluid or air, at high resolution. AFM has been used to study a vast selection of samples on the scale of angstroms to micrometers. However, current AFMs cannot access samples with vertical topography of the order of 100 mu m or greater. Research efforts have produced AFM scanners capable of vertical motion greater than 100 mu m, but commercially available probe tip lengths are still typically less than 10 mu m high. Even the longest probe tips are below 100 mu m and even at this range are problematic. In this paper, we present a method to hand-fabricate "Deep AFM" probes with tips of the order of 100 mu m and longer so that AFM can be used to image samples with large scale vertical topography, such as fractured bone samples. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.