Trends vs. Hypes in AFM – Webinar Series

With a focus on trending applications in #nanoresearch

22 May 2022

Rory Shadbolt

Publishing / Media

Nanoscience has become a fast-growing field of study with a tremendous impact on our lives via the technologies it enables, which span from integrated circuits to biological research. Investigating samples' structure and functional properties has yielded both materials and devices with enhanced performance and fundamental insights.

Certain trends and hypes have also arisen around what makes nanoimaging via AFM qualitative and impactful for the research community. Previously, when considering a high-performance AFM, one looked principally at high-resolution capabilities, mechanical noise, scan speed, and the ability to consistently and repeatably produce accurate and reliable data. Considering recent trends across the entire AFM field ranging from alternative methods of cantilever excitation, increase in scan speed and the addition of robotics and machine learning, we examine the status of the technique from the perspective of the end-user.

In this webinar series, we deal with the questions: Which features are relevant for my applications? Do I really need all the hypes of AFM? How can I get the best possible data with my AFM? We will take you on a tour including features like high resolution, advantages of ambient vs. high vacuum conditions, electrical investigations, and automation of experiments in order to holistically address the state-of-the-art in AFM.