OSCILLATION OF THE CANTILEVER IN ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY - PROBING THE SAMPLE RESPONSE AT THE MICROSECOND SCALE

The relaxation of an atomic force microscope microlever is investigate d after the unsticking instability. We show that the different oscilla ting behavior can be explained by considering that polymer chains rema in stuck at the tip even when the microlever is away from the sample. A simple rheological model is used which satisfactorily describes the different features observed. The approach described in the article pro vides useful additional information to understand the behavior of a mi crolever coupled to a polymer network. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.