Kishan Sinha

There are four primary sources of artifacts in AFM: probe (tip) , piezo-scanners , feedback parameters and sample surface . However, artifacts can also be introduced during image processing if one is not careful while applying line-leveling and other filters that come with image processing software. Factors such as vibration and acoustic noise, temperature gradients also affect the image quality adversely. Following is a brief account of some of the most commonly observed artifacts in AFM and causative factors leading to them. 1.  Line leveling The AFM images usually contain large background mainly due to the non-linear nature of ceramic piezo-scanners and cross-coupling between these piezos. Among the most common AFM image processing techniques used to subtract background are the data "leveling" techniques. There are, in general, two types of leveling techniques: Line leveling and area leveling . While line leveling feature fits and subtracts functions from th