Self Assembling monolayer to prevent AFM congestion

 

This figure represents an approach to prevent AFM tip congestion. Because the AFM tip operates outsite of a cleanroom and under normal atmosphere, the tip naturally gets congested with macroscale dust and dirt. This reduces the optical contrast and adds noise to the measurement. To prevent this, the tip can be coated with a Self Assembling Monolayer on which the congestion does not adhere.

The first figure represents three different situations, where three different materials are present at the tip. The congestion layer is fully modelled in Photoshop without use of actual images, and looks like a SEM image of the tip congestion.
The second figure represents what happens when a force is applied on the dodecanethiol SAM packing.