Formerly under the jurisdiction of Committee E42 on Surface Analysis, this practice was withdrawn in July 2016 in accordance with Section 10.6.3 of the Regulations Governing ASTM Technical Committees, which requires that standards shall be updated by the end of the eighth year since the last approval date.

The shape and orientation of the probe tip determines which information can be reliably extracted from a scan. This applies to all types of scans. For instance, in surface roughness measurement, the probe tip radius has a profound effect on the spatial frequencies that the probe can reliably measure. Consequently, in reporting data from a probe microscope, it is important to obtain and include in the report information about the shape of the probe tip.

1.1 This practice covers scanning probe microscopy and describes the parameters needed for probe shape and orientation.

1.2 This practice also describes a method for measuring the shape and size of a probe tip to be used in scanning probe microscopy. The method employs special sample shapes, known as probe characterizers, which can be scanned with a probe microscope to determine the dimensions of the probe. Mathematical techniques to extract the probe shape from the scans of the characterizers have been published (2-5).

This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.