Critical factors in quantitative Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy

Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy (AFAM) is a scanning probe technique for advanced research in nanomechanical properties, using local elasticity to provide direct and non-destructive mapping of Young's modulus and related surface parameters.In this work, an experimental study is presented, addressing the performance of quantitative AFAM characterization. Different influencing factors are analysed, mainly arising from probe characteristics (such as cantilever geometry, force constant and ultimately resonance frequency) and scan settings (speed and sample vibration frequency). Investigations encompassed a commercial instrument equipped with three different probes, featuring different dimensions and mechanical properties.