Snapshots of a surface can be created in one to two seconds. Imaging with the STM and AFM is similar to conventional photography in terms of the effects of long exposures. The faster the image is created, the less likely the subject will move and cause the image to be blurred. In the case of the microscopes, surface temperature differences affect the motion of the tip. The longer the tip takes to scan a sample, the greater the distortion.
Several seconds can elapse during the creation of an image without thermal distortion occurring.
Through a succession of images, scientists can even observe atomic-scale events evolving on a surface. Through the use of lasers, the scientists hope to be able to witness intermediate reactions. Currently, pairs of lasers are in common use as tools to measure the dynamics of surface reactions. After a pump laser stimulates a surface, a probe laser is used to measure the event. While turned on, the STM is poised over a single point and stays there for a number of cycles to make sure its measurement is accurate.