3D spherical-cap fitting procedure for (truncated) sessile nano- and micro-droplets & -bubbles

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Surface Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Analyzing nanostructures like nanobubbles and nanodroplets on substrates often relies on atomic force microscopy (AFM).
• Extracting geometrical information typically uses a spherical cap model from 2D cross-sections of AFM topographic images.
• This 2D approach has limitations due to arbitrary cross-section selection and biased data usage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a comprehensive 3D spherical-cap fitting procedure (3D-SCFP) for accurate nanostructure morphology analysis.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional 2D cross-sectional fitting methods.
• To enable automated and high-fidelity extraction of geometrical parameters from AFM images.

Main Methods:

• Developed a 3D spherical-cap fitting procedure (3D-SCFP) integrating advanced digital image analysis techniques.
• Constructed a 3D spherical-cap model using all valid data points from AFM topographic images.
• Implemented a simple algorithm for automatic extraction of geometrical parameters.

Main Results:

• The 3D-SCFP provides accurate and consistent determination of geometrical parameters for complete and truncated spherical caps.
• Compared to 2D fitting, 3D-SCFP utilizes all data points, avoiding arbitrary cross-section selection and bias.
• Demonstrated higher fidelity in morphology analysis compared to 2D cross-sectional methods.

Conclusions:

• The developed 3D-SCFP offers a robust and accurate method for analyzing nanostructure morphology from AFM data.
• This 3D approach overcomes the inherent limitations of 2D cross-sectional analysis.
• The 3D-SCFP is expected to have broad applications in nanostructure imaging analysis.