In a search to control charge injection and detection with an atomic force microscope, dynamic force curves are investigated in the presence of an electrostatic tip‐sample coupling. An analytical study, using a plane capacitor model, provides results in good agreement with experimental data, in particular for the hysteretic behavior of the tip. Moreover, the plane capacitor model furnishes an estimation of the detected charge in our experiment of 360 electrons on aSiO2surface. © 2003 American Institute of Physics