Parametric resonance in atomic force microscopy: A new method to study the tip-surface interaction

We propose a new method to investigate interactions involved in atomic force microscopy (AFM). It is a dynamical method relying on the growth of oscillations via parametric resonance. With this method the second and third derivatives of the tip-surface interaction potential can be measured simultaneously. Because of its threshold behavior parametric resonance AFM leads to sharp contrasts in surface imaging.