Seeing the nanoscale world using atomic force microscopy
Atomic force microscope (AFM) belongs to the scanning probe microscope family, itself stemming from scanning tunneling microscope. Using AFM, one can measure surface topography with atomic/molecular-resolution and measure various properties of the surface and interfaces with nanometer-scale resolution. This is rendered possible by detecting tiny forces exerted on an atomically sharp tip located very close to the sample surface. In this seminar, I will briefly mention the history and principles of atomic force microscope, and review some of the recent achievements obtained with state-of-the-art AFM.