Fingerprint structure studies with semi-contact AFM

The work [1] presents many, sometimes even surprising examples of the use of atomic force microscopy in modern forensics. Some of them are projectile tests using the characteristic scratch patterns created by the firing pin on the primer. There are more and more suggestions in the literature for the use of atomic force microscopy in dactyloscopy [2]. The paper presents the possibility of identifying areas containing contamination with biological traces on various substrates. Additionally, it is possible to some extent to perform a qualitative analysis and to identify the imprints left on the basis of differences in the adhesive force of interaction between the probe tip and various substances. In order to verify the above theses, analyzes of the fingerprints left by the author on the surface of the sapphire plates were performed. The set contains 8 images and 3 sets of curves recorded in the half-frame technique with the use of the NSG30 probe.
References:
[1] G. Pandey, M. Tharmavaram, D. Rawtani, S. Kumar, Y. Agrawal, Multifarious applications of atomic force microscopy in forensic science investigations, Forensic Science International, 273 (2017) 53-63, DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.01.030.
[2] G. S. Watson, J. A. Watson, Potential Applications of Scanning Probe Microscopy in Forensic Science, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 61 (2007) 1251–1255, DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/61/1/247.