Tip–sample interactions: Extraction of single molecular pair potentials from force curves

Abstract

This article describes a method for extracting the true tip–sample potential from an experimental force curve in atomic force microscopy. This potential is not the negative integral of the force curve. Rather, the potential is a more complicated function of the force curve and cantilever spring constant. If information about the shape of the tip is known, a decorrelation may be performed to extract molecular pair potentials from the total tip–sample potential. Applications and limitations of this method are discussed.

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