One major drawback identified in atomic force microscopy imaging is the dependence of the image's precision on the shape of the probe tip. In this paper a simple algorithm is proposed to provide artifact identification signaling in-situ tip features in atomic force microscopy images. The base of the identifications lied when the angle formed between two scanned points was kept the same as the tip sweeps a certain length of the sample. The potential of the described method was illustrated on a chitosan polysaccharide film. The images produced were compared to evaluate tip-artifact regions. This algorithm showed promise as a tool in the measurement and characterization fields to separate true images from artificial images in probe microscopy.
Probe microscopy; AFM; images tip artifacts; biological film
