High-speed large area atomic force microscopy using a quartz resonator

A high-speed atomic force microscope for scanning large areas, utilizing a quartz bar driven close to resonance to provide the motion in the fast scan axis is presented. Images up to 170 × 170 m2 have been obtained on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) grating in 1 s. This is provided through an average tip-sample velocity of 28 cm s−1 at a line rate of 830 Hz. Scan areas up to 80 × 80 m2 have been obtained in 0.42 s with a line rate of 1410 Hz. To demonstrate the capability of the scanner the spherulitic crystallization of a semicrystalline polymer was imaged in situ at high speed.