Video Rate Fast Imaging for AFM-Based Nano Manipulations

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) as an imaging device is now also widely used for nanomanipulation. However, the complexity of the nano-environment leads to easy probe-nanoparticle separation during manipulation, which also leads to ineffective manipulation. By modeling and simulating the tip of the probe, this paper proposes a geometry-based probe-nanoparticle state judgment model, which analyzes the deformation of the probe-nanoparticle under different contact modes. Furthermore, this paper also attempts to explain the reasons behind the separation of probe-nanoparticles during manipulation, and proposes a method for the detection of separation events and the judgment of the separation direction. To recover the nanoparticle positions in time when the separation event occurs during manipulation, a fast local scan and image recovery strategy is proposed in this paper. By compressing the sampling area, adjusting the sampling order, and setting dual judgment criteria, recovery can be quickly accomplished. The experimental results show that the nanoparticle position is recovered with high speed and accuracy during nanomanipulation. This work has positive significance for improving the efficiency and fluency of nanomanipulation and reducing the manipulated stopping time.