Abstract
This paper demonstrates that the scanning probe microscopy (SPM; scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)) is capable of performing in situ nanoscopic observation of localized damage in an operating environment: initiation and growth processes of corrosion products, pitting corrosion and intergranular corrosion as well as stress corrosion cracking of metals. This technique is also applied to examine brittle fracture surfaces of various engineering materials including metals, ceramics and single crystal silicon, and the nanoscopic fracture features are discussed. We discuss the related issues in in situ SPM visualization, advantages and disadvantages of STM and AFM, and nanoscopic damage mechanisms based upon nanoscopic observation of damage process; we show that an AFM is more suitable for performing in situ, serial observation of corrosion processes.
