Theoretical and experimental study of the forces between different SNOM probes and chemically treated AFM cantilevers

A shear-force mechanism between a chemically etched scanning near-field optical microscope tip and different chemically treated atomic force microscope cantilevers has been experimentally and theoretically investigated as a function of the tip-to-sample distance for different amplitudes of the tip oscillation. The experimental results show, in agreement with the theoretical predictions, that as the tip approaches the cantilever, the electrostatic force is the most influential in the shear-force mechanism, independently of the nature of the tip or the sample. As the tip-to-sample distance decreases, other forces come into play, and the type of interaction depends on the chemical nature of tip and sample surfaces. Thus, for hydrophobic cantilevers, the decrease in the vibration amplitude is mostly due to the solid friction forces resulting from electrostatic interactions. However, if the sample surface is hydrophilic, there is a decrease in the electrostatic force, a water meniscus is formed, and the decrease in the tip amplitude is mostly due to dynamic friction related to capillarity.