ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY OF TECHNOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has been successfully used to characteri ze a variety of samples with different chemical composition. Polycryst alline sample preparation techniques, cleaving and careful adjustment of the imaging setup made it also possible to investigate materials wi th non-ideal geometry (small size, rough sample surface) down to the a tomic scale. Pressed CaCO3 powder samples of different origin have bee n imaged with atomic resolution. Multilayer systems of AlGaAs/GaAs and Si/GaAs on top of a GaAs substrate could be imaged readily. Single de lta-layers of Si in GaAs could be resolved. The results demonstrate th at simple sample preparation techniques and the implementation of chem ical reactions can greatly enhance the analytical scope and applicabil ity of AFM.