atomic force microscope

noun

: an instrument used for mapping the atomic-scale topography of a surface by means of the repulsive electronic forces between the surface and the tip of a microscope probe moving above the surface

—abbreviation AFM

atomic force microscopy noun

Examples of atomic force microscope in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These tiny indents are made (and read) using a fine-tip probe mounted on an atomic force microscope … not by a reed stylus. —Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 31 Dec. 2024

For Tuesday’s Nobel Prize in Physics, Swedish public radio SR’s science experts suggested the honour could go to Swiss physicist Christoph Gerber, a pioneer in the development of the atomic force microscope. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2024

The technique uses an atomic force microscope to form indentations in a two-layer stack of atomically thin materials. —IEEE Spectrum, 5 Sep. 2023

In the first image, taken with an atomic force microscope, lobes or waves are observed. —Matías A. Loewy, Discover Magazine, 25 Mar. 2023

Gerd Binnig shared the Kavli Prize in Nanoscience in 2016 for inventing the atomic force microscope. —Scientific American Custom Media, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1986, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for atomic force microscope

• antelope
• bronchoscope
• cantaloupe
• cystoscope
• endoscope
• envelope
• epitope
• gyroscope
• horoscope
• isotope
• misanthrope
• pericope

Medical Definition

atomic force microscope

noun

: an instrument used for mapping the atomic-scale topography of a surface by means of the repulsive electronic forces between the surface and the tip of a microscopic probe moving above the surface

—abbreviation AFM