AFM images and processing routine

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between inorganic scale formation and booth surface free energy and surface roughness. This data includes both atomic force microscopy images from stainless steel and carbon-coated stainless steel samples and the ImageJ routine developed to measure the roughness exponent of those images.

In this area of research, the surface average roughness is the parameter of choice to describe the surface roughness. However, it is not intrinsic to the surface, as it depends on the measuring method. Therefore, the roughness exponent, a parameter independent of the measuring method and able to describe the roughness across a range of different length scales, is advantageous.