We report the use of the atomic force microscope (AFM) for local measurements of photoresist thickness and for the detection of residual photoresist in semiconductor processing. By scraping the photoresist off a small portion of a sample with the AFM stylus, and then imaging a larger area at low force, we have been able to measure the depth of a residual, photoresist masking layer. In addition, the AFM has been used to qualitatively judge the efficiency of three common methods of removing photoresist: a hot acetone bath left the most residual photoresist, a commercial stripper left less, and an oxygen plasma etch left none under our test conditions.