PyfastSPM: A Python package to convert 1D FastSPM data streams into publication quality movies
Karl D. Briegel,
Felix Riccius,
Jakob Filser,
Alexander Bourgund,
Robert Spitzenpfeil,
Mirco Panighel,
Carlo Dri,
Barbara A.J. Lechner,
Friedrich Esch
Affiliations
Karl D. Briegel
Chair of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Catalysis Research Center, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Felix Riccius
Chair of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Catalysis Research Center, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Jakob Filser
Chair of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Catalysis Research Center, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Alexander Bourgund
Chair of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Catalysis Research Center, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Robert Spitzenpfeil
Chair of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Catalysis Research Center, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Functional Nanomaterials Group, Department of Chemistry & Catalysis Research Center, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, D-85748 Garching, Germany; Corresponding author.
Friedrich Esch
Chair of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Catalysis Research Center, School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, D-85748 Garching, Germany
Since the invention of scanning probe microscopy, researchers have desired to use this technique to monitor sub-second surface dynamics with atomic spatial resolution. A recently presented add-on electronics module enables the speed-up of existing, conventional scanning probe microscopes without any modification of the actual instrument. The resulting one-dimensional (1D) data stream, recorded while the tip oscillates in a sinusoidal motion, has to be reconstructed into a layered rectangular matrix in order to visualize the movie. The Python-based pyfastspm package performs this conversion, while also correcting for sample tilt, noise frequencies, piezo creep, and thermal drift. Quick automatic conversion even of considerable batches of data is achieved by efficient algorithms that bundle time-expensive steps, such as interpolation based on Delaunay triangulation.
