ABSTRACT
The †rst members of the scanning probe microscope (SPM) family, the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM), were conceived and developed in the early to mid-1980s (Binnig and Rohrer 1982; Binnig, Quate, and Gerber 1986). Since then the technologies and ideas that underpinned the original developments have provided the inspiration for numerous additional related techniques, each capable of functioning in several different operational modes. Until recently, SPM was considered to be a novel group of techniques, in comparison with the venerable electron-optical microscopic family. However, even though the entire spectrum of variations on the SPM theme is still being explored, and the gradual evolution of instrumental technology remains a work in progress, SPM must now be considered as a mature technique, with well-established protocols, strengths, and weaknesses. Thus, the present chapter will refrain from describing the technical intricacies of an SPM instrument, but instead will refer interested readers to the relevant literature (e.g., Magonov and Whangbo 2007; DiNardo 2007; Meyer, Hug, and Bennewitz 2004; Wiesendanger, Meyer, and Morita 2002; Wiesendanger 1998; Myhra 2010). Instead, it will address the many operational modes and related methods that are of particular relevance to the characterization of nanostructures.
