AFM is one of the few instruments that can quantitatively measure the lateral (x and y) and height dimensions of a surface (z). AFM uses mechanical contact between a tip and sample rather than other high-resolution microscopic characterization techniques that rely on electron interactions with a material to determine sample topography and surface texture. AFM is a potent measurement tool for quantitative measurements of a surface with a resolution of 5–10 nm laterally and sub-nanometer vertically.

There are no prerequisites for a sample to be able to be measured by AFM other than that it fits inside the device. This potent quantitative measurement is coupled with flexibility in the sample surface. Important metrological metrics like the roughness profile, identifying surface imperfections, and more complex measurements like skewness and kurtosis are all made possible by quantitative assessments of the sample topography.

The Z axis (vertical) measuring range for NextGen’s NG-SR400T Surface Roughness Tester is 320μm (-160μm-160μm), 12600μin (-6300μin-+6300μin).

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