Other contact microscopies
Polymer surface imaging: atomic force microscopy

For low-fragility materials, Lateral Force Microscopy (LFM) can be used to visualize areas of differing friction coefficients on the surface of heterogeneous materials [7] ; the image is obtained by measuring the tangential component of the tip-surface interaction force (figure 7 a ).

As the sample is scanned, the spring undergoes torsion in addition to vertical deflection. The deflection of the spring causes a vertical displacement of the laser beam reflected by the mirror (figure