When we speak of nanometric water films on surfaces we are speaking about a truly ubiquitous phenomenon in nature. All surfaces exposed to ambient conditions are covered by a thin film of water that affects or mediates surface chemistry, general physical-chemical processes on surfaces, and even solid–solid interactions. We have investigated this phenomenon for over a decade by exploiting dynamic ...

In this chapter, we are demonstrate how to set-up an amplitude-modulation (AM) AFM for tapping mode operation. We use a Cypher scanning probe microscope from Asylum Research. We employ our techniques for tip characterization and discuss the attractive and repulsive regimes.