AFM is critical for quality control in microchip manufacturing, detecting defects that are far too small for optical tools.

The core of an AFM is a with a sharp probe (tip) at its end. This tip typically has a radius of curvature on the scale of a few nanometers.

A laser beam reflects off the back of the cantilever onto a photodiode detector . Even a tiny movement of the tip translates into a measurable shift in the laser’s position.

AFM has moved far beyond simple "pictures." It is now a lab-on-a-tip: