Application of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in the Diagnosing of a Surface Layer

This paper introduces the Atomic Force Microscopy as an advanced engineering method that offers great potential in the modern, high-class quality control of optic, photonic, and semiconductor elements. Furthermore, what has been strongly emphasized is a real need to describe the morphology of a surface layer using the fractal parameter and the correlation length as fundamental parameters that describe self-similarity and self-affinity of surfaces of technical elements. The methodology shown in the paper is supported with some effects of experimental work, including fractal analysis of the topography of the surface of thin Ni-Mn-Ga type Heusler alloy with the Root Mean Square (RMS) method.