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M. Goryl, F. Krok, S. R. Saeed, J. Budzioch and M. Szymonski Research Center for Nanometer-Scale Science and Advanced Materials (NANOSAM), Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, Jagiellonian University, ul. Reymonta 4, 30-059 Krakow, Poland P. Steiner, E. Gnecco, T. Glatzel and E. Meyer Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland We report on high-resolution friction force microscopy (FFM) on stepped NaCl(001) surfaces in UHV conditions. The FFM measurements were performed on a single cleavage step edge as well as on a surface patterned by a ripple structure achieved with ion beam irradiation at grazing incidence angle. Both "standard" contact mode and force modulation (FM) mode were used. In FM measurements, the cantilever was excited close to its contact resonance frequency. Depending on the scanning conditions, the step was either worn off or imaged without damage by the AFM tip. Transfer of material from the step edge to the nearby upper terrace is well documented by atomically resolved images of the damaged region. A comparison between topography, friction force and resonance frequency maps allow us to extract important information on the contact dynamics across the step. |
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