3D rendering of a AFM tip checking sample. The sample is a series of very sharp spikes, which are much sharper than a typical AFM tip. Because the spikes are sharper than the tip, it is the sample that does the imaging - the features seen on the surface represent the shape of the AFM tip used to scan over the surface.

To the left: 2D scan used to create the 3D animation. Lateral scan size is 5 µm x 5 µm and the height scale is 530 nm.

Image is courtesy of Image Metrology ApS.

The 3D animation was rendered with the SPIP software.