Continuous microscopy of ceramic materials with atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is established as a powerful tool for the study of surfaces in materials science. AFM principally offers the possibility to image the surface structure in real space continuously from macroscopic scale down to atomic resolution. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the ability of AFM for the microstructural characterisation of ceramic materials. Therefore, AFM has been applied for a wide range of magnification (1,000 to 100,000x). We have investigated polycrystalline alumina, yttria-doped zirconia and SiC-doped alumina ceramics as well as a single crystal of yttria-stabilised zirconia. Thereby, a specific ceramographic sample preparation produces characteristic nano-scaled surface structures, which are visualised by AFM. The results are compared with those of conventional microscopic methods, such as optical, scanning electron, high-resolution field emission scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Even for small relief heights of a few nanometres being present in etched samples. AFM renders an excellent image contrast due to high resolution in vertical direction. Consequently, AFM is a valuable method for microstructural characterisation of ceramic materials spanning the whole magnification and resolution range from optical to transmission electron microscopy.