Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very-high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) with demonstrated resolution in the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. AFM was developed to overcome a basic drawback with STM – it can only image conducting or semiconducting surfaces. The AFM, however, has the advantage of imaging almost any type of surface including polymers, ceramics, composites, glass, and biological samples.
