Scan Rate Adaptation for AFM Imaging Based on Performance Metric Optimization

Abstract

Constant-force contact-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) relies on a feedback control system to regulate the tip–sample interaction during imaging. Due to limitations in actuators and control, the bandwidth of the regulation system is typically small. Therefore, the scan rate is usually limited in order to guarantee a desirable image quality for a constant-rate scan. By adapting the scan rate online, further performance improvement is possible, and the conditions to this improvement have been explored qualitatively in a previous study for a wide class of possible scan patterns. In this article, a quantitative assessment of the previously proposed adaptive scan scheme is investigated through..