B - St. Cloud State University

Ryan’s MFP-3D Procedural Operation ‘Manualette’ Version 10 (v080501; Igor 6.04A);
ix
The purpose of this ‘Manualette’ is to offer new and infrequent MDP-3Dusers some supplemental
documentation on how to procedurally operate an Asylum Research MFP-3D AFM. It’s like a manual, but
more brief and to the point regarding basic ‘how-to’ operational procedures. It started off as a small document,
and was termed the manualette. Its inception was to alleviate time spent training lab members during the
author’s post doc days, but has evolved to this document in efforts to reduce the operational learning curve to
achieve your efficiency.
Also note that this instrument’s standard software is highly versatile, and describing even the most
straightforward techniques in our user base is quite an undertaking. Adding the openness of the software, MFP-
3D accessories (heaters, ORCA, VFM, etc.) and signal routing with the crosspoint switch, makes the instrument
mind-numbingly versatile, and there may be a good chance it’s not described.
It is assumed that the official MFP-3D manual has been perused. The MFP-3D is an expensive, high
precision instrument, and should be treated with great care and common sense. AFM does take patience since
it is an instrument that must be tuned and have proper sample preparation to be successful.
A great effort has been made to ensure this manualette is as accurate as possible, but its accuracy and
completeness cannot be guaranteed. Despite the best efforts by the author, this manualette may contain
mistakes and the reader should use this only as a general guide for operation of the MFP-3D atomic force
microscope, and is not the ultimate source of information about this instrument. The author assumes no
responsibility for any damage whatsoever by persons or property that may result from readers undertaking
operation of the MFP-3D.
This Manualette:
• Is broken down into sections that are in a (seemingly) logical progression for obtaining AFM images or simple
force spectroscopy experiments, and the subsequent (basic) data analysis.
• Only discusses operation of the MFP-3D itself, and does not include any optical microscopy techniques (if
your MFP-3D happens to be sitting on an inverted optical microscope), or operation of electrical techniques or
accessory modules at this time.
• Is in continual development, so more insightful, updated versions will occur in the future. Version 10 by far is
the largest and most comprehensive to date.
If you are not familiar with Igor Pro, you should read through the ‘Getting Started’ manual that comes with the
software documentation. It’s a worthwhile use of a couple hours.
The author also suggests when updating new software from Asylum, to read the ‘what’s new read
me’ files; they are often very descriptive.
The ‘MFP3D Help Files’ under the Igor Help menu are also very useful, especially for image
analysis and display. The programmers write these for a reason, and are generally very
insightful, yet sometimes not procedural- hence, the manualette.
Some features of this manualette-
-Any word in gray bold text in single quotes means it’s an execution button in the software; example ‘Simple
Engage’, represents this button:
The ▪ bullet points denote a new concept or comment.
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