Well, almost anything that is solid can be analysed by AFM!
Here is a short list of SOME samples, in no particular order:
- Polymers
- Metals
- Fibres: Hair, synthetic fibres, nanotubes
- Particles: micro-, nanoparticles, quantum dots
- Molecules covalently bound to a surface: e.g. self-assembled monolayers, and others
- Molecules that are NOT bound to a surface, e.g. nucleic acids, proteins, many others
- Minerals
- Langmuir-Blodgett films, Lipid bilayers
- Cells: Mammalian, Bacteria, Plant, etc.
- Viruses
- Ceramics
- Plant surfaces: e.g. leaves, fruit
- Paper
In short, if it has a surface, and it's solid, AFM can image it.
There has even been some work reported on gel and liquid surfaces.