Application and calibration of a quartz needle sensor for high resolution scanning force microscopy

We have investigated a force sensing technique for high-resolution scanning force microscopy which uses a piezoelectric quarts resonator oscillating perpendicular to the direction of the sample surface at a frequency of 1 MHz. The achievement of true atomic resolution on single-wall carbon nanotube surfaces illustrates the promises of this new technique which is especially well suited for ultrahigh vacuum or low-temperature conditions. The force sensitivity and the mechanical amplitude of the sensor oscillation were characterized semiquantitatively. (C) 1999 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(99)08504-2].