**1. Introduction**

146 Atomic Force Microscopy – Imaging, Measuring and Manipulating Surfaces at the Atomic Scale

Stumpf, R. & Scheffler, M. (1996). Ab initio calculations of energies and self-diffusion on flat

Szlufarska, I, Chandross, M., & Carpick R.W. (2008). Recent advances in single-asperity nanotribology. *J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.,* Vol. 41, pp. (123001-1 - 123001-39) Tabor, D. (1977). Surface forces and surface interactions. *J. Colloid Interface Sci.* Vol.58, pp. (2-

Tersoff, J. (1986). Anomalous corrugations in scanning tunneling microscopy - imaging of

Tsai, H. & Bogy, D.B., (1987). Characterization of diamond-like carbon-films and their

van den Oetelaar, R.J.A. & Flipse, C.F.*J.,* (1997). Atomic-scale friction on diamond(111)

Yanson, I. K., Kulik, I. O. & Batrak, A. G. (1981). Point-contact spectroscopy of electron-

Watts, E.T., Krim, J., & Widom, A. (1990). Experimental-observation of interfacial slippage at

application as overcoats on thin-film media for magnetic recording . *J. Vac. Sci.* 

studied by ultra-high vacuum atomic force microscopy. *Surf. Sci.,* Vol.384, pp.

phonon interaction in normal-metal single-crystals. *J. Low Temp. Phys.*, Vol. 42, pp.

the boundary of molecularly thin-films with gold substrates. *Phys. Rev. B*, Vol. 41,

Sze, S.M., (1981). *Physics of Semiconductor Devices,* J. Wiley & Sons, New York

individual states. *Phys. Rev. Lett.*, Vol. 57, pp. (440-443)

Vol. 53, pp. (4958-4973)

*Technol.* A, Vol. 5, pp. (3287-3312)

Wexler, G. (1966). *Proc. Phys. Soc. London,* Vol. 89, pp. (927-930)

13)

(L828-L835)

(527-556)

pp. (3466-3472)

and stepped surfaces of Al and their implications on crystal growth. *Phys. Rev.B,*

Nanoscale science is the study of objects and phenomena at a very small scale and it has been an emerging, interdisciplinary science involving Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Material Science, Computer Science and other areas. The main interest in studying in the nanoscale is related to how nanosized particles have different properties than large particles of the same substance. Nanoscale science allow us to learn more about the nature of matter, develop new theories, discover new questions and answers in many areas including health care, energy and technology and also discover how to make new technologies and products that can improve people's life. Although nanoscale science is a recent development in the scientific community, the development of its main concepts happened over a long period of time and the emergence of nanotechnology is related to experimental advances such as the invention of the Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM), a branch of microscopy that captures surface imagery using physical probes that scan the specimen.

SPM was founded with the invention of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) in 1982 at IBM in Zurich by Binning (Binning et al., 1982). The tip-sample interaction in STM is based on a tunneling electrical current. Although the ability of the STM to image and measure the material surface with atomic resolution has caused a great impact on the technology community, the tip-sample interaction in STM is limited only for good electrical conductor or semiconductor materials. The need of studying other materials led to the development, in 1986, of the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) by Binning, Quate, and Gerber (Binnig et al., 1986) that enabled the detection of atomic scale features on a wide range of insulating surfaces.
