Sample with hard sharp pyramidal nanostructures for characterization of tip shape. The pyramids are triangular with base length in the range 50–100nm and height 50–150nm. The radius of curvature of the sharpest edges is below 5nm.
The structures of the PA01 are covered by a highly wear-resistant layer.
The exact shape of the scanning probe tip is very important for obtaining AFM images of high quality and accuracy. As new AFM tips with nanometer radii of curvature become widespread, periodic structures that have surface features of similar or greater sharpness should be used to estimate the parameters of the tip. An AFM image of the PA structures is shown above. The AFM image is obtained using an OPUS 240AC-NA probe.
