An approach to nano-chemical analysis through NC-AFM technique

We have measured the NC-AFM frequency shift dependence on the X-ray energy around the Au L3 absorption edge energy. We found a peak in the frequency shift just above the Au region at the Au L3 absorption edge energy while we could not detect any peak in the frequency shift when the NC-AFM tip was placed above the Si regions. This novel phenomenon indicated that the combination of energy-variable X-rays and NC-AFM provides us a new way to nano level chemical mapping at surface. We briefly discussed some possible mechanisms.