Publications
Interfacial force microscopy: Application to polymer surfaces
Scanning-probe microscopies (SPM) are presently widely used in remarkably diverse applications and, as evidenced by this symposium these techniques are rapidly expanding into the important areas of polymer surfaces and interfaces. The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is presently the most widely used of the scanning-probe techniques. However, the AFM's range of application suffers from an inherent mechanical instability in its deflection force sensor. The instability problem has been overcome by the development of the Interfacial Force Microscope (IFM), which utilizes a force-feedback sensor concept. In the following, the authors present several examples of polymer applications to illustrate the utility of the IFM sensor concept.