Atomic and subnanometer resolution in ambient conditions by atomic force microscopy

This article reviews the achievements of both atomic resolution and subnanometer (molecular) resolution in ambient conditions by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The principles of AFM and AFM operation modes are first introduced. The concept of resolution is then discussed. Various types of tip–surface forces, particularly the forces prominent in liquid and in air, are introduced. Different viewpoints on the conditions for achieving atomic/subnanometer resolution are reviewed. The important issues of reproducibility and artifacts are discussed in depth, with many examples from the literature. The central portion of this article is a critical review of the published results of atomic resolution, dating from 1993 up to 2007. The achievements of subnanometer resolution on biological samples are then briefly overviewed. Examples are given to demonstrate how to obtain reliable structural information from lattice resolution or pseudo-atomic resolution topographs. Finally, the challenges of AFM as a trustworthy high resolution technique are discussed.