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The atomic force microscope (AFM) uses a cantilever with a probe tip. It is not actually possible to measure with atomic resolution so the name is a somewhat misleading. A laser is deflected off the tip of the cantilever into a photodetector. The deflection of the cantilever is measured and from that the height of the surface is determined. As the probe tip approaches the surface there is initially an attractive force as the electron clouds rearrange to produce an induced dipole. Later as the electron clouds begin to overlap a repulsion develops that over takes the attractive force.
The image above shows a typical result. They are very useful for measuring the height of the surface and surface roughness similar to a profilometer. The maximum step height and scan range they can achieve is somewhat limited. The step height is typically limited to ~5 microns and the scan range is typically <100 microns.
I changed the name of this post to Scanning Probe Microscopy which is better.
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