  Various methods of force measurement with the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
are compared for their ability to accurately determine the tip-surface force
from analysis of the nonlinear cantilever motion. It is explained how
intermodulation, or the frequency mixing of multiple drive tones by the
nonlinear tip-surface force, can be used to concentrate the nonlinear motion in
a narrow band of frequency near the cantilevers fundamental resonance, where
accuracy and sensitivity of force measurement are greatest. Two different
methods for reconstructing tip-surface forces from intermodulation spectra are
explained. The reconstruction of both conservative and dissipative tip-surface
interactions from intermodulation spectra are demonstrated on simulated data.
