  Ambient operation poses a challenge to AFM because in contrast to operation
in vacuum or liquid environments, the cantilever dynamics change dramatically
from oscillating in air to oscillating in a hydration layer when probing the
sample. We demonstrate atomic resolution by imaging of the KBr(001) surface in
ambient conditions by frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy with a
cantilever based on a quartz tuning fork (qPlus sensor) and analyze both long-
and short-range contributions to the damping. The thickness of the hydration
layer increases with relative humidity, thus varying humidity enables us to
study the in uence of the hydration layer thickness on cantilever damping.
Starting with measurements of damping versus amplitude, we analyzed the signal
and the noise characteristics at the atomic scale. We then determined the
optimal amplitude which enabled us to acquire high-quality atomically resolved
images.
