One of the most advanced and versatile nanoscale diagnostic tools is atomic force microscopy. By enabling advanced imaging techniques, it allows us to determine various assets of a surface, including morphological, electrical, mechanical, magnetic, and thermal properties. Measuring local current flow is one of the very important methods of evaluation for, for instance, photovoltaic materials or semiconductor structures and other nanodevices. Due to contact areas, the current densities can easily reach above 1 kA/m²; therefore, special detection/measurement setups are required. They meet the required measurement range, sensitivity, noise level, and bandwidth at the measurement scale. Also, they prevent the sample from becoming damaged and prevent unwanted tip–sample issues. In this paper, we present three different nanoscale current measurement solutions, supported with test results, proving their performance.

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is a broad family of diagnostic methods. Common restraint of SPM is only surficial interaction with specimen, especially troublesome in case of complex volumetric systems, e.g. microbial or microelectronic. Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) overcomes that constraint, since thermal information is collected from broader space. We present transformer bridge-based setup for resistive nanoprobe-based microscopy. With low-frequency (LF) (approx. 1 kHz) detection signal bridge resolution becomes independent on parasitic capacitances present in the measurement setup. We present characterisation of the setup and metrological description—with resolution of the system 0.6 mK with sensitivity as low as 5 mV K⁻¹. Transformer bridge setup brings galvanic separation, enabling measurements in various environments, pursued for purposes of molecular biology. We present results SThM measurement results of high-thermal contrast sample of carbon fibres in an epoxy resin. Finally, we analyse influence of thermal imaging on topography imaging in terms of information channel capacity. We state that transformer bridge-based SThM system is a fully functional design along with low driving frequencies and resistive thermal nanoprobes by Kelvin Nanotechnology.

This paper presents the possibilities of applying atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques to the study of the wear of prosthetic biomaterials. In the conducted research, a zirconium oxide sphere was used as a test piece for mashing, which was moved over the surface of selected biomaterials: polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and dental gold alloy (Degulor M). The process was carried out with constant load force in an artificial saliva environment (Mucinox). An atomic force microscope with an active piezoresistive lever was used to measure wear at the nanoscale. The advantage of the proposed technology is the high resolution of observation (less than 0.5 nm) in the three-dimensional (3D) measurements in a working area of 50 × 50 × 10 µm. The results of nano wear measurements in two measurement setups are presented: zirconia sphere (Degulor M and zirconia sphere) and PEEK were examined. The wear analysis was carried out using appropriate software. Achieved results present a tendency coincident with the macroscopic parameters of materials.

W pracy przedstawiamy platformę edukacyjnego skaningowego mikroskopu tunelowego pozwalającego na badania powierzchni w skali nanometrycznej. Zasadniczą zaletą zaprojektowanej konstrukcji jest jej otwarta architektura pozwalająca na prowadzenie różnorodnych eksperymentów zarówno dydaktycznych jak i wysokospecjalizowanych prac naukowych. Przedstawiony system został zaprojektowany w ramach prac dyplomowych i doktorskich w Katedrze Nanometrologii Wydziału Elektroniki, Fotoniki i Mikrosystemów Politechniki Wrocławskiej.

Nanowires (NWs) exhibit distinct mechanical and electrical properties compared to bulk materials, with giant piezoresistive effect—characterized by exceptionally high gauge factors (GFs)—being of particular interest for nanoscale sensing applications. Precise characterization of this effect in focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) NWs remains limited. Here we investigate the piezoresistive behavior of FEBID NWs composed of platinum–carbon, tungsten–carbon, and cobalt using a four-point measurement setup integrated within operational microelectromechanical systems inside a scanning electron microscope. FEBID NWs are fabricated as self-standing devices, grown bottom-up and contacted in the same nanometrological setup. Our results reveal a giant piezoresistive effect in tungsten–carbon NWs, exhibiting GFs exceeding 10 000, while cobalt NWs show moderate sensitivity and platinum–carbon NWs display no clear piezoresistive response. These findings demonstrate the potential of FEBID-fabricated NWs, particularly tungsten–carbon, for high-sensitivity strain sensing, advancing the development of nanoscale piezoresistive devices.

In this paper, we report a novel application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) for measurement of wear of prosthetic materials. In contrast to previously employed methods, we introduce AFM-based wear induction. In this way, we utilize AFM as both measurement technique and the mean for surface wear. We describe the methodology along with the metrological advantages of the approach regarding the supreme resolution of volume measurement (down to 1 μm³). We investigate wear between prosthetic gold alloy (Degulor M) and FGP polymeric material from Bredent in nanoscale. For that purpose, we modify active piezoresistive cantilever, replacing the original tip with Degulor M microsphere. We elaborate on the process of modification and present how the mass volume and topology of the tip is controlled throughout the process. Wear process was performed in reciprocal motion over the length of 5 μm in 35,000 repetitions to mimic the actual conditions occurring in human mouth cavity. We present how this method, by focusing on a small area of investigated materials, leads to shortening the overall time of wear measurements from tong term observations down to several minutes. AFM-measured data present consistent relation between wear energy and wear volume. Exemplary results seem to confirm durability of the FGP-Degulor M mechanical contact and occurring strengthening of the mechanical contact with roughening of the polymeric surface.