A method of detecting an observable interaction between a sample and a probe of an AFM, the method comprising: positioning at least one of the probe and the sample at a location of interest of the sample; moving at least one of the probe and the sample to lessen a separation therebetween and cause the two to interact; measuring an observable interaction based on the moving step; discriminating an observable interaction artifact from an observable interaction due to actual probe-sample interaction from the measured observable interaction data to derive an artifact free observable interaction and compare with a trigger; retracting the probe from the sample if the artifact free observable interaction substantially corresponds to the trigger; wherein the observable interaction includes at least one of a group including: force, deflection, electric interaction, magnetic interaction, thermal interaction and electromagnetic interaction the discriminating step includes comparing a drive ramp to a fit line based on data corresponding to the observable interaction, wherein the ramp distance of the drive ramp includes at least one of a group of controllable parameters including the Z position between the probe and the sample, tip bias, sample bias, frequency, amplitude, and characterized in that the method further comprises: - extrapolating the fit line based on the comparison and - modifying the ramp used to drive the probe-sample separation, using a mathematical fit based on the fit line and extrapolating the ramp to accommodate artifact observable interaction in essentially real-time. positioning at least one of the probe and the sample at a location of interest of the sample; moving at least one of the probe and the sample to lessen a separation therebetween and cause the two to interact; measuring an observable interaction based on the moving step; discriminating an observable interaction artifact from an observable interaction due to actual probe-sample interaction from the measured observable interaction data to derive an artifact free observable interaction and compare with a trigger; retracting the probe from the sample if the artifact free observable interaction substantially corresponds to the trigger; wherein the observable interaction includes at least one of a group including: force, deflection, electric interaction, magnetic interaction, thermal interaction and electromagnetic interaction the discriminating step includes comparing a drive ramp to a fit line based on data corresponding to the observable interaction, wherein the ramp distance of the drive ramp includes at least one of a group of controllable parameters including the Z position between the probe and the sample, tip bias, sample bias, frequency, amplitude, and characterized in that the method further comprises: - extrapolating the fit line based on the comparison and - modifying the ramp used to drive the probe-sample separation, using a mathematical fit based on the fit line and extrapolating the ramp to accommodate artifact observable interaction in essentially real-time. - extrapolating the fit line based on the comparison and - modifying the ramp used to drive the probe-sample separation, using a mathematical fit based on the fit line and extrapolating the ramp to accommodate artifact observable interaction in essentially real-time.