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Force Scanning on a Shaky Membrane
February 5, 2021•
Physics 14, 19
A microscope technique that visualizes small objects on a vibrating membrane could deliver atomically resolved MRI scans.
D. Hälg
et al. [1]
Brane scan. A new approach to force microscopy uses a thin membrane (purple), whose vibrations are controlled and monitored with laser light (left). A scanning probe moves over a separate section of the membrane (right), where samples are placed.
D. Hälg
et al. [1]
Brane scan. A new approach to force microscopy uses a thin membrane (purple), whose vibrations are controlled and monitored with laser light (left). A scanning probe moves over a separate section of the membrane (right), where samples are placed.×
Date Time
New microscopy concept enters into force
The first demonstration of an approach that inverts the standard paradigm of scanning probe microscopy raises the prospect of force sensing at the fundamental limit.
Configuration of the inverted scanning force microscope.
(Graphics: Alexander Eichler, ETH Zurich)
The development of scanning probe microscopes in the early 1980s brought a breakthrough in imaging, throwing open a window into the world at the nanoscale. The key idea is to scan an extremely sharp tip over a substrate and to record at each location the strength of the interaction between tip and surface. In scanning force microscopy, this interaction is – as the name implies – the force between tip and structures on the surface. This force is typically determined by measuring how the dynamics of a vibrating tip changes as it scans over objects deposited on a substrate. A common analogy is tapping a finger across a table and sensing objects placed on the surface.