Abstract :
A method for accessing information in addition to the topography primarily provided by tapping mode atomic force
microscopy (TM-Al%) is presented. The phase difference between the driving signal of the piezo oscillating the cantilever
in the TM-AFM and the resulting motion of the tip is exploited in order to access additional information about the tip sample
interaction. Adhesive forces between the tip and the surface can be mapped simultaneously to the topographic data with the
same lateral resolution. We found evidence that the phase signal is closely related to the nature of the water layer present on
surfaces exposed to the ambient atmosphere by examining aerosol particles on polyester foil and the corrosion of
potash-lime-silica glass with medieval composition. However, also the topography as well as operating parameters such as
load force and scan speed contribute to the phase signal making quantitative comparisons difficult.
