Detection of Ultrasmall Interaction Atomic Force

Detection of interatomic force is extremely essential in the application of atomic force microscope (AFM). There are two types of atomic force detection method, which is usually used in AFM, i.e. optical cantilever sensor and piezoresistive cantilever sensor. In this work, using piezoresistive cantilever and Wheatstone bridge circuit, we demonstrate that the interaction atomic force between AFM tip and sample surface is clearly detected. This system can be used as atomic force detector in AFM as well as a commercial detection system.