AFM tip-sample convolution effects for cylinder protrusions

A thorough understanding about the AFM tip geometry dependent artifacts and tip-sample convolution effect is essential for reliable AFM topographic characterization and dimensional metrology. Using rigid sapphire cylinder protrusions (diameter: 2.25 μm, height: 575 nm) as the model system, a systematic and quantitative study about the imaging artifacts of four types of tips—two different pyramidal tips, one tetrahedral tip and one super sharp whisker tip—is carried out through comparing tip geometry dependent variations in AFM topography of cylinders and constructing the rigid tip-cylinder convolution models. We found that the imaging artifacts and the tip-sample convolution effect are critically related to the actual inclination of the working cantilever, the tip geometry, and the obstructive contacts between the working tip's planes/edges and the cylinder. Artifact-free images can only be obtained provided that all planes and edges of the working tip are steeper than the cylinder sidewalls. The findings reported here will contribute to reliable AFM characterization of surface features of micron or hundreds of nanometers in height that are frequently met in semiconductor, biology and materials fields.