Automation of an atomic force microscope via Arduino
Jesus Gerardo Guerrero-Felix,
Javier Lopez-Miras,
Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Valverde,
Carmen Lucia Moraila-Martinez,
Miguel Angel Fernandez-Rodriguez
Affiliations
Jesus Gerardo Guerrero-Felix
Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain; Faculty of Biology, Autonomous University of Sinaloa, 80010 Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico
Javier Lopez-Miras
Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain
Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Valverde
Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain
Carmen Lucia Moraila-Martinez
Faculty of Biology, Autonomous University of Sinaloa, 80010 Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico; Department of Electronics and Computer Technology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Miguel Angel Fernandez-Rodriguez
Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain; Corresponding author.
The Atomic Force Microscopy is a very versatile technique that allows to characterize surfaces by acquiring topographies with sub-nanometer resolution. This technique often overcomes the problems and capabilities of electron microscopy when characterizing few nanometers thin coatings over solid substrates. They are expensive, in the half million dollar range for standard units, and therefore it is often difficult to upgrade to new units with improved characteristics. One of these improvements, motorization and automation of the measurements is very interesting to sample different parts of a substrate in an unattended way. Here we report a low cost upgrade under 60 $ to a Dimension 3000 AFM based on a control unit using an Arduino Leonardo. It enables to acquire dozens or hundreds of images automatically by mimicking keyboard shortcuts and interfacing the AFM PCI card.
