Optimizing the driving scheme of a self-actuated atomic force microscope probe for high-speed applications.

We investigate the optimum driving scheme of a dynamic atomic force microscope with a self-actuated probe for high-speed applications by performing numerical simulations. We compare the recently developed methods such as Q-control, dynamic PID control, and modified Q-control methods to the standard tapping mode by considering scan speed and peak transient forces. In addition, the effects of driving frequency and set-point amplitude on the maximum achievable scan speed for the same probe-sample system are discussed. We find that the scan speed can be increased significantly at the expense of increased peak transient forces.