The Impact of the Damping Coefficient on the Dynamic Stability of the TM-AFM Microcantilever Beam System

The tapping-mode atomic force microscope (TM-AFM) is widely used today; however, improper matching between the operating medium and the sampling time may lead to inaccurate measurement results. The relationship between the damping coefficient and the steady state of the TM-AFM microcantilever is investigated in this paper using multiple stability theory. Firstly, the effects of changes in dimensionless linear damping coefficients and dimensionless piezoelectric film damping coefficients on the motion stability of the system are examined using bifurcation diagrams, phase trajectories, and domains of attraction. Subsequently, the degrees of effect of the two damping coefficients on the stability of the system are compared. Finally, the bi-parametric bifurcation characteristics of the system under a specific number of iterative cycles are investigated using the bi-parametric bifurcation diagram in conjunction with the actual working conditions, and the boundary conditions for the transition of the system’s motion from an unstable state to a stable state are obtained. The results of the study show that to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the individual measurement data in 500 iteration cycles, the dimensionless linear damping coefficient must be greater than 0.01014. Our results will provide valuable references for TM-AFM measurement media selection, improving TM-AFM imaging quality, measurement accuracy and maneuverability, and TM-AFM troubleshooting.