The animation shows the principle of Friction Force Microscopy using the laser beam deflection method.

In scanning force microscopy a very small tip attached on a cantilever is drawn across a surface. The surface is systematically scanned line by line. The tip is bended by the forces between the tip and the surface. This motion of the tip is detected with the laser beam deflection method. On the upper side a mirror is attached on the canitlever which deflects a laserbeam. The position of the beam is detected with a four quadrant photo detector.