Phase Imaging

This chapter discusses the artifacts and challenges associated with phase imaging. Phase can play a critical diagnostic role in controlling topographic imaging. It is well established in the scientific literature that an oscillating atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip interacting with a sample surface can be bistable. Artifacts induced by bistability are well known to practitioners of phase imaging and are responsible for many of the observed contrast reversal artifacts. In the chapter, it is seen that the proper quantification of phase can be troublesome because of both instrumental and physical effects. The last difficulty with phase measurement treated here is very much dependent on the electronic equipment used to measure phase. The most common source of difficulty is the so-called extender electronics package sold with certain first generation commercial systems (Bruker/Veeco), which nevertheless remain in common use.