Quantitative determination of contact stiffness using atomic force acoustic microscopy

Atomic force acoustic microscopy is a near-field technique which combines t he ability of ultrasonics to image elastic properties with the high lateral resolution of scanning probe microscopes. We present a technique to measur e the contact stiffness and the Young's modulus of sample surfaces quantita tively, with a resolution of approximately 20 nm, exploiting the contact re sonance frequencies of standard cantilevers used in atomic force microscopy . The Young's modulus of nanocrystalline ferrite films has been measured as a function of oxidation temperature. Furthermore, images showing the domai n structure of piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate ceramics have been tak en. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.