Three-dimensional drift correction of scan data from atomic force microscopy using Lissajous scanning paths

Abstract

Non-raster scanning is being widely used to increase the scanning speed of atomic force microscopes (AFMs). However, like any other AFM scanning techniques, non-raster scanning can also suffer from drift during the scanning process. This paper presents a simple novel method based on cross-correlation for the effective drift correction of non-raster Lissajous AFM scans with intersecting paths. The drift in x, y and z axes can be determined using the crossing points and repeated scans of the same features. In this paper, the general method is presented together with experimental results using Lissajous scans of two artifacts, which demonstrate that the drift in the three axes and the additional tilt can all be corrected resulting in significant improvement in the image obtained. Our drift correction method can overcome the limitations of the existing AFM drift correction methods which are usually based on extra scanning, and it exploits the crossing scan paths and four scanning cycles inherent in Lissajous scanning without using additional scans to effectively determine the three-dimensional drift using cross-correlation and least squares techniques. The drift correction method can be used with any AFMs capable of Lissajous scanning.

Assessment of Subsampling Schemes for Compressive Nano-FTIR Imaging

“…for t ∈ [0, ∞). 2D Lissajous curves have been applied to scanning techniques including those in the fields of medical imaging [42], atomic force microscopy [43], [44] and magnetic particle imaging [45]. We will extend the 2D Lissajous curves to create a 3D Lissajous path by simply expanding the parametric equation as follows:…”

unDrift: A versatile software for fast offline SPM image drift correction

“…Other authors proposed drift correction procedures based on rescanning a small area of an SPM image with the fast and slow scan directions reversed [ 13 , 38 – 40 ], splitting the scan of an image into several subscans [ 41 ], or periodically rescanning the first scan line [ 42 ]. For non-raster SPM, the drift velocity can be extracted without additional scans from the analysis of inherent crossing points in the scanning path [ 43 – 44 ]. Another approach to remove distortions from SPM images is to correct the images with regard to a known reference structure [ 4 , 6 , 18 ].…”

Correction method for 3D non-linear drift distortions in atomic force microscopy raster measurements

“…Some of the methods correct drift only for the z axis of AFMs, however these methods often have good temporal resolution, so that considerable non-linearities of the drift can be corrected [3,4]. Other methods can correct drift in two axes [5,6], but of particular importance are methods that correct drift in all three coordinate axes [7][8][9][10]. Unfortunately, most of the 3D methods introduced so far primarily correct either the linear drift only, or the drift which can be approximated by low-order polynomials (e.g.…”