Interfacial force measurements using atomic force microscopy

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) can not only image the topography of surfaces at atomic resolution, but can also measure accurately the different interaction forces, like repulsive, adhesive and lateral existing between an AFM tip and the sample surface. Based on AFM, various extended techniques have been developed such as colloidal probe AFM, single molecule AFM, bio-AFM, Kalvin probe AFM and lateral force AFM (LFM). Together,these make AFM a powerful tool to study the properties of surfaces and interfaces, which is of great importance for many different disciplines, e.g. surface chemistry, polymerchemistry and physics, solid-state physics, cell biology and medicine.