ABSTRACT
A 1 x 1 /xm A F M scan was taken over a single ridge peak to gain insight into the roughness characteristics of the peaks and the sidewalls of the T G G grid. This images are shown in Fig. 4A and 4B. To better characterize irregularities of the asperity and perceive the scale of this roughness, a cross-sectional profile, parallel to the peak, cutting through the irregularities is also shown in Fig. 4C. It was found that the height of nano-scaled irregularities varied from less than 10 nm to about 50 nm. Approximately 20-30% of the total length of the cross section deviated from an expected straight line. It was found that the ridge itself contained a significant number of irregularities with protruding heights up to 5 nm. These elevations on the
sidewall or top of asperity, if contacted by the glass sphere probes during pull-off force measurements, could significantly alter the probe-substrate contact area.
