Development and utilization of the nanomarkers for precise AFM tip positioning in the investigation of the surface morphology change

The investigation of the surface properties changes at micrometer and nanometer scale, due to the presence of various factors such as: temperature, solar radiation or magnetic field, requires suitable diagnostic methods. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is one of the most popular measurement techniques providing necessary resolution. As complex experiments may require multiple moving of the sample between instruments and AFM, one can find quantitative comparison of the results unreliable when the measurements are performed without precise positioning of investigated surface and different areas are analyzed. In this work, the utilization of the nanoscratching method in terms of development of the nanomarkers set is presented, as the solution for precise positioning of the sample in order to perform the multi-step imaging of small surface area (1 μm×1 μm). Various materials were used to verify the versatility of the developed method. Also, the observation of the influence of the UV radiation on the polycarbonate sample was demonstrated as the example proving the application potential of the approach.