Mapping the local Young's modulus by analysis of the elastic deformations occurring in atomic force microscopy

Abstract

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is used to map the local elastic properties of substrates by analysis of the force versus tip motion curves. Measurements are presented, which show that gold islands on a rough polypropylene substrate can be distinguished from the surrounding polymer. Quantitative calculations of the elastic deformations of the tip and of the sample, as induced by the AFM, were performed. Surprisingly, the tip deformation is predominant over the sample deformation in a wide regime of forces and of tip radii; which are commonly used in AFM. This fact limits the capability of the AFM to measure local elastic properties. However, with our experimental set-up one can induce a total deformation dominated by the sample deformations.