Ultra-high aspect ratio replaceable AFM tips using deformation-suppressed focused ion beam milling

Fabrication of ultra-high aspect ratio exchangeable and customizable tips for atomic force microscopy (AFM) using lateral focused ion beam (FIB) milling is presented. While on-axis FIB milling does allow high aspect ratio (HAR) AFM tips to be defined, lateral milling gives far better flexibility in terms of defining the shape and size of the tip. Due to beam-induced deformation, it has so far not been possible to define HAR structures using lateral FIB milling. In this work we obtain aspect ratios of up to 45, with tip diameters down to 9 nm, by a deformation-suppressing writing strategy. Several FIB milling strategies for obtaining sharper tips are discussed. Finally, assembly of the HAR tips on a custom-designed probe as well as the first AFM scanning is shown.

Nanoscale contact line visualization based on Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy

We describe a novel measurement method to study the contact line of a droplet at nanoscale level. The method is based on Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRFM), which uses an evanescent excitation field produced by total internal reflection of light. The evanescent field depends on the angle of the incident light and has an exponential intensity decay, characterized by the penetration depth. The penetration depth is determined by imaging a fluorescent particle probe that is traversed using an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) setup. The result confirms the exponential behavior of the evanescent field intensity, and the value of the penetration depth also corresponds with the value predicted based on the optical configuration. By using the intensity distribution of a fluorescent dye and the value for the penetration depth of the evanescent wave, it is possible to reconstruct the interface of a partial wetting droplet. The reconstructed interface based on TIRFM is in good agreement with the interface obtained from two reference measurements: non-disturbing AFM-imaging and conventional contact angle measurement. The latter lacks spatial resolution, while the former is limited to particular droplets. This new non-contact measurement does not suffer from these drawbacks, making it a very useful tool to study the fundamental wetting behavior of both stationary and dynamic interfaces.

Enhancing Raman signals with an interferometrically controlled AFM tip

We demonstrate the upgrade of a commercial confocal Raman microscope into a tip-enhanced Raman microscope/spectroscopy system (TERS) by integrating an interferometrically controlled atomic force microscope into the base of an existing upright microscope to provide near-field detection and thus signal enhancement. The feasibility of the system is demonstrated by measuring the Raman near-field enhancement on thin PEDOT:PSS films and on carbon nanotubes within a device geometry. An enhancement factor of 2-3 and of 5-6 is observed, respectively. Moreover, on a nanotube device we show local conductivity measurement and its correlation to Raman and topography recordings. Upgrading an existing upright confocal Raman microscope in the demonstrated way is significantly cheaper than purchasing a complete commercial TERS system.

Tip-enhanced Raman imaging and nano spectroscopy of etched silicon nanowires

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is used to investigate the influence of strains in isolated and overlapping silicon nanowires prepared by chemical etching of a (100) silicon wafer. An atomic force microscopy tip made of nanocrystalline diamond coated with a thin layer of silver is used in conjunction with an excitation wavelength of 532 nm in order to probe the first order optical phonon mode of the [100] silicon nanowires. The frequency shift and the broadening of the silicon first order phonon are analyzed and compared to the topographical measurements for distinct configuration of nanowires that are disposed in straight, bent or overlapping configuration over a microscope coverslip. The TERS spatial resolution is close to the topography provided by the nanocrystalline diamond tip and subtle spectral changes are observed for different nanowire configurations.

High-speed atomic force microscope combined with single-molecule fluorescence microscope

High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM) have mutually complementary capabilities. Here, we report techniques to combine these microscopy systems so that both microscopy capabilities can be simultaneously used in the full extent. To combine the two systems, we have developed a tip-scan type HS-AFM instrument equipped with a device by which the laser beam from the optical lever detector can track the cantilever motion in the X- and Y-directions. This stand-alone HS-AFM system is mounted on an inverted optical microscope stage with a wide-area scanner. The capability of this combined system is demonstrated by simultaneous HS-AFM∕TIRFM imaging of chitinase A moving on a chitin crystalline fiber and myosin V walking on an actin filament.

Rapid detection of bacterial resistance to antibiotics using AFM cantilevers as nanomechanical sensors

The widespread misuse of drugs has increased the number of multiresistant bacteria, and this means that tools that can rapidly detect and characterize bacterial response to antibiotics are much needed in the management of infections. Various techniques, such as the resazurin-reduction assays, the mycobacterial growth indicator tube or polymerase chain reaction-based methods, have been used to investigate bacterial metabolism and its response to drugs. However, many are relatively expensive or unable to distinguish between living and dead bacteria. Here we show that the fluctuations of highly sensitive atomic force microscope cantilevers can be used to detect low concentrations of bacteria, characterize their metabolism and quantitatively screen (within minutes) their response to antibiotics. We applied this methodology to Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, showing that live bacteria produced larger cantilever fluctuations than bacteria exposed to antibiotics. Our preliminary experiments suggest that the fluctuation is associated with bacterial metabolism.

Functionalized AFM probes for force spectroscopy: eigenmode shapes and stiffness calibration through thermal noise measurements

The functionalization of an atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever with a colloidal bead is a widely used technique when the geometry between the probe and the sample must be controlled, particularly in force spectroscopy. But some questions remain: how does a bead glued at the end of a cantilever influence its mechanical response? And more importantly for quantitative measurements, can we still determine the stiffness of the AFM probe with traditional techniques?In this paper, the influence of the colloidal mass loading on the eigenmode shape and resonant frequency is investigated by measuring the thermal noise on rectangular AFM microcantilevers with and without beads attached at their extremities. The experiments are performed with a home-made ultra-sensitive AFM, based on differential interferometry. The focused beam from the interferometer probes the cantilever at different positions and the spatial shapes of the modes are determined up to the fifth resonance, without external excitation. The results clearly demonstrate that the first eigenmode is almost unchanged by mass loading. However the oscillation behavior of higher resonances presents a marked difference: with a particle glued at its extremity, the nodes of the modes are displaced towards the free end of the cantilever. These results are compared to an analytical model taking into account the mass and inertial moment of the load in an Euler-Bernoulli framework, where the normalization of the eigenmodes is explicitly worked out in order to allow a quantitative prediction of the thermal noise amplitude of each mode. A good agreement between the experimental results and the analytical model is demonstrated, allowing a clean calibration of the probe stiffness.

Coating of AFM probes with aquatic humic and non-humic NOM to study their adhesion properties

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to study interaction forces between four Natural Organic Matter (NOM) samples of different physicochemical characteristics and origins and mica surface at a wide range of ionic strength. All NOM samples were strongly adsorbed on positively charged iron oxide-coated silica colloidal probe. Cross-sectioning by focused ion beam milling technique and elemental mapping by energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy indicated coating completeness of the NOM-coated colloidal probes. AFM-generated force-distance curves were analyzed to elucidate the nature and mechanisms of these interacting forces. Electrostatics and steric interactions were important contributors to repulsive forces during approach, although the latter became more influential with increasing ionic strength. Retracting force profiles showed a NOM adhesion behavior on mica consistent with its physicochemical characteristics. Humic-like substances, referred as the least hydrophilic NOM fraction, i.e., so called hydrophobic NOM, poorly adsorbed on hydrophilic mica due to their high content of ionized carboxyl groups and aromatic/hydrophobic character. However, adhesion force increased with increasing ionic strength, suggesting double layer compression. Conversely, polysaccharide-like substances showed high adhesion to mica. Hydrogen-bonding between hydroxyl groups on polysaccharide-like substances and highly electronegative elements on mica was suggested as the main adsorption mechanism, where the adhesion force decreased with increasing ionic strength. Results from this investigation indicated that all NOM samples retained their characteristics after the coating procedure. The experimental approach followed in this study can potentially be extended to investigate interactions between NOM and clean or fouled membranes as a function of NOM physicochemical characteristics and solution chemistry.

Phase and amplitude patterns in DySEM mappings of vibrating microstructures

We use a dynamic scanning electron microscope (DySEM) to analyze the movement of oscillating micromechanical structures. A dynamic secondary electron (SE) signal is recorded and correlated to the oscillatory excitation of scanning force microscope (SFM) cantilever by means of lock-in amplifiers. We show, how the relative phase of the oscillations modulate the resulting real part and phase pictures of the DySEM mapping. This can be used to obtain information about the underlying oscillatory dynamics. We apply the theory to the case of a cantilever in oscillation, driven at different flexural and torsional resonance modes. This is an extension of a recent work (Schröter et al 2012 Nanotechnology 23 435501), where we reported on a general methodology to distinguish nonlinear features caused by the imaging process from those caused by cantilever motion.

Graphene MEMS: AFM probe performance improvement

We explore the feasibility of growing a continuous layer of graphene in prepatterned substrates, like an engineered silicon wafer, and we apply this as a mold for the fabrication of AFM probes. This fabrication method proves the fabrication of SU-8 devices coated with graphene in a full-wafer parallel technology and with high yield. It also demonstrates that graphene coating enhances the functionality of SU-8 probes, turning them conductive and more resistant to wear. Furthermore, it opens new experimental possibilities such as studying graphene-graphene interaction at the nanoscale with the precision of an AFM or the exploration of properties in nonplanar graphene layers.

Fabrication of a polymer-metal combined atomic force microscopy probe for coarse food surface imaging

We fabricated a polymer-metal combined atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe by two steps; a polymeric resin was used at first step, and a metal-ion was used at second step which needs more fabricating time than the resin. At first step, we fabricated a cylindrical base on to a commercial cantilever. At second step, we fabricated a conical probe on to the fabricated cylindrical base. To make the conical probe composed with silver, a 0.2 M aqueous solution of silver nitrate (AgNO3) was used. A 50 microm length polymeric-metallic hybrid tip has been fabricated to observe large bio and food samples. Generally, the AFM images of bio/food samples show cliff-like sharp patters in vertical. However, the AFM image by fabricated long tip shows clear structure of each brown rice flours. As most of commercial tips have three-angular pyramidal, the scanned results should be influenced by the lateral face of the three-angular pyramid, which results in cliff-like images. Because the sample size is large, the side area of the sample was adversely affected by the pyramidal structure during imaging. This problem may be resolved by designing conical structure tips. As the conical structure has no edge, the AFM image becomes clear. The fabricated tip has conical structure, and a clear AFM image was achieved.

Wide-area scanner for high-speed atomic force microscopy

High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) has recently been established. The dynamic processes and structural dynamics of protein molecules in action have been successfully visualized using HS-AFM. However, its maximum scan ranges in the X- and Y-directions have been limited to ~1 μm and ~4 μm, respectively, making it infeasible to observe the dynamics of much larger samples, including live cells. Here, we develop a wide-area scanner with a maximum XY scan range of ~46 × 46 μm(2) by magnifying the displacements of stack piezoelectric actuators using a leverage mechanism. Mechanical vibrations produced by fast displacement of the X-scanner are suppressed by a combination of feed-forward inverse compensation and the use of triangular scan signals with rounded vertices. As a result, the scan speed in the X-direction reaches 6.3 mm/s even for a scan size as large as ~40 μm. The nonlinearity of the X- and Y-piezoelectric actuators' displacements that arises from their hysteresis is eliminated by polynomial-approximation-based open-loop control. The interference between the X- and Y-scanners is also eliminated by the same technique. The usefulness of this wide-area scanner is demonstrated by video imaging of dynamic processes in live bacterial and eukaryotic cells.

Torsional resonance mode magnetic force microscopy: enabling higher lateral resolution magnetic imaging without topography-related effects

We present experimental work that reveals the benefits of performing magnetic force microscopy measurements employing the torsional resonance mode of cantilever oscillation. This approach provides two clear advantages: the ability of performing magnetic imaging without topography-related interference and the significant lateral resolution improvement (approximately 15%). We believe that this work demonstrates a significant improvement to a versatile magnetic imaging technique widely used in academia and in industry.

Mechanics of interaction and atomic-scale wear of amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy probes

Wear is one of the main factors that hinders the performance of probes for atomic force microscopy (AFM), including for the widely used amplitude modulation (AM-AFM) mode. Unfortunately, a comprehensive scientific understanding of nanoscale wear is lacking. We have developed a protocol for conducting consistent and quantitative AM-AFM wear experiments. The protocol involves controlling the tip-sample interaction regime during AM-AFM scanning, determining the tip-sample contact geometry, calculating the peak repulsive force and normal stress over the course of the wear test, and quantifying the wear volume using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging. The peak repulsive tip-sample interaction force is estimated from a closed-form equation accompanied by an effective tip radius measurement procedure, which combines transmission electron microscopy and blind tip reconstruction. The contact stress is estimated by applying Derjaguin-Müller-Toporov contact mechanics model and also numerically solving a general contact mechanics model recently developed for the adhesive contact of arbitrary axisymmetric punch shapes. We discuss the important role that the assumed tip shape geometry plays in calculating both the interaction forces and the contact stresses. Contact stresses are significantly affected by the tip geometry while the peak repulsive force is mainly determined by experimentally controlled parameters, specifically, the free oscillation amplitude and amplitude ratio. The applicability of this protocol is demonstrated experimentally by assessing the performance of diamond-like carbon-coated and silicon-nitride-coated silicon probes scanned over ultrananocrystalline diamond substrates in repulsive mode AM-AFM. There is no sign of fracture or plastic deformation in the case of diamond-like carbon; wear could be characterized as a gradual atom-by-atom process. In contrast, silicon nitride wears through removal of the cluster of atoms and plastic deformation.

Fast nanotopography imaging using a high speed cantilever with integrated heater-thermometer

This paper presents a high speed tapping cantilever with an integrated heater-thermometer for fast nanotopography imaging. The cantilever is much smaller and faster than previous heated cantilevers, with a length of 35 μm and a resonant frequency of 1.4 MHz. The mechanical response time is characterized by scanning over a backward-facing step of height 20 nm. The mechanical response time is 77 μs in air and 448 μs in water, which compares favorably to the fastest commercial cantilevers that do not have integrated heaters. The doped silicon cantilever is designed with an integrated heater that can heat and cool in about 10 μs and can operate in both air and water. We demonstrate standard laser-based topography imaging along with thermal topography imaging, when the cantilever is actuated via the piezoelectric shaker in an atomic force microscope system and when it is actuated by Lorentz forces. The cantilever can perform thermal topography imaging in tapping mode with an imaging resolution of 7 nm at a scan speed of 1.46 mm s(-1).

Atomic force microscopy with sub-picoNewton force stability for biological applications

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is widely used in the biological sciences. Despite 25 years of technical developments, two popular modes of bioAFM, imaging and single molecule force spectroscopy, remain hindered by relatively poor force precision and stability. Recently, we achieved both sub-pN force precision and stability under biologically useful conditions (in liquid at room temperature). Importantly, this sub-pN level of performance is routinely accessible using a commercial cantilever on a commercial instrument. The two critical results are that (i) force precision and stability were limited by the gold coating on the cantilevers, and (ii) smaller yet stiffer cantilevers did not lead to better force precision on time scales longer than 25 ms. These new findings complement our previous work that addressed tip-sample stability. In this review, we detail the methods needed to achieve this sub-pN force stability and demonstrate improvements in force spectroscopy and imaging when using uncoated cantilevers. With this improved cantilever performance, the widespread use of nonspecific biomolecular attachments becomes a limiting factor in high-precision studies. Thus, we conclude by briefly reviewing site-specific covalent-immobilization protocols for linking a biomolecule to the substrate and to the AFM tip.

Design of a scanning gate microscope for mesoscopic electron systems in a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator

We report on our design of a scanning gate microscope housed in a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator with a base temperature of 15 mK. The recent increase in efficiency of pulse tube cryocoolers has made cryogen-free systems popular in recent years. However, this new style of cryostat presents challenges for performing scanning probe measurements, mainly as a result of the vibrations introduced by the cryocooler. We demonstrate scanning with root-mean-square vibrations of 0.8 nm at 3 K and 2.1 nm at 15 mK in a 1 kHz bandwidth with our design. Using Coulomb blockade thermometry on a GaAs/AlGaAs gate-defined quantum dot, we demonstrate an electron temperature of 45 mK.

An absorption-based superconducting nano-detector as a near-field optical probe

We investigate the use of a superconducting nano-detector as a novel near-field probe. In contrast to conventional scanning near-field optical microscopes, the nano-detector absorbs and detects photons in the near-field. We show that this absorption-based probe has a higher collection efficiency and investigate the details of the interaction between the nano detector and the dipole emitter. To this end, we introduce a multipole model to describe the interaction. Calculations of the local density of states show that the nano-detector does not strongly modify the emission rate of a dipole, especially when compared to traditional metal probes.

Calibration of measurement sensitivities of multiple micro-cantilever dynamic modes in atomic force microscopy using a contact detection method

An accurate experimental method is proposed for on-spot calibration of the measurement sensitivities of multiple micro-cantilever dynamic modes in atomic force microscopy. One of the key techniques devised for this method is a reliable contact detection mechanism that detects the tip-surface contact instantly. At the contact instant, the oscillation amplitude of the tip deflection, converted to that of the deflection signal in laser reading through the measurement sensitivity, exactly equals to the distance between the sample surface and the cantilever base position. Therefore, the proposed method utilizes the recorded oscillation amplitude of the deflection signal and the base position of the cantilever at the contact instant for the measurement sensitivity calibration. Experimental apparatus along with various signal processing and control modules was realized to enable automatic and rapid acquisition of multiple sets of data, with which the calibration of a single dynamic mode could be completed in less than 1 s to suppress the effect of thermal drift and measurement noise. Calibration of the measurement sensitivities of the first and second dynamic modes of three micro-cantilevers having distinct geometries was successfully demonstrated. The dependence of the measurement sensitivity on laser spot location was also experimentally investigated. Finally, an experiment was performed to validate the calibrated measurement sensitivity of the second dynamic mode of a micro-cantilever.

Tip-induced micropatterning of silk fibroin protein using in situ solution atomic force microscopy

Silk fibroin (SF) is a promising candidate for a variety of application in the fields of tissue engineering, drug delivery, and biomedical optics. Recent research has already begun to explore the construction of nano- and micropatterned SF films under ambient environment. The structure and biocompatibility of SF are dependent on SF state (solution or solid) and the method of drying the SF solution to prepare various biomaterials such as films, sponges, and fibers. Therefore, it is important to explore the construction of SF nano- and micropatterns under aqueous solution. This paper reports a novel application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) under liquid for direct deposition of the relatively hydrophobic protein SF onto hydrophilic mica. We demonstrate that the AFM tip, in either the contact or the tapping mode, can fabricate SF micropatterns on mica with controlled surface topography. We show that the deposition process requires a mechanical force-induced SF sol-gel transition followed by a transfer to the mica surface at the tip-surface contact, and the efficiency of this process depends on not only AFM operation mode but also the SF bulk concentration, the SF amount on mica, and the AFM tip spring constant.

Nanobiosensors based on chemically modified AFM probes: a useful tool for metsulfuron-methyl detection

The use of agrochemicals has increased considerably in recent years, and consequently, there has been increased exposure of ecosystems and human populations to these highly toxic compounds. The study and development of methodologies to detect these substances with greater sensitivity has become extremely relevant. This article describes, for the first time, the use of atomic force spectroscopy (AFS) in the detection of enzyme-inhibiting herbicides. A nanobiosensor based on an atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip functionalised with the acetolactate synthase (ALS) enzyme was developed and characterised. The herbicide metsulfuron-methyl, an ALS inhibitor, was successfully detected through the acquisition of force curves using this biosensor. The adhesion force values were considerably higher when the biosensor was used. An increase of ~250% was achieved relative to the adhesion force using an unfunctionalised AFM tip. This considerable increase was the result of a specific interaction between the enzyme and the herbicide, which was primarily responsible for the efficiency of the nanobiosensor. These results indicate that this methodology is promising for the detection of herbicides, pesticides, and other environmental contaminants.

Viewing dynamic interactions of proteins and a model lipid membrane with atomic force microscopy

The information covered in this chapter will present a model homogenous membrane preparation technique and dynamic imaging procedure that can be successfully applied to more than one type of lipid study and atomic force microscope (AFM) instrument setup. The basic procedural steps have been used with an Asylum Research MFP-3D BIO and the Bruker (formerly, Veeco) BioScope. The AFM imaging protocol has been supplemented by procedures (not to be presented in this chapter) of ellipsometry, standardized western blotting, and dot-blots to verify appropriate purity and activity of all experimental molecular components; excellent purity and activity level of the lipids, proteins, and drug(s) greatly influence the success of imaging experiments in the scanning probe microscopy field. The major goal of the chapter is to provide detailed procedures for sample preparation and operation of the Asylum Research MFP-3D BIO AFM. In addition, one should be cognizant that our comprehensive description in the use of the MFP-3D BIO's functions for successful image acquisitions and analyses is greatly enhanced by Asylum Research's (AR's) accompanying extensive manual(s), technical notes, and AR's users forum. Ultimately, the stepwise protocol and information will allow novice personnel to begin acquiring quality images for processing and analysis with minimal supervision.

Functional AFM imaging of cellular membranes using functionalized tips

The real-time visualization of specific binding sites on biological samples with high spatial resolution, in order of several nanometers, is an important undertaking in many fields of biology. During the past 5 years, simultaneous topography and recognition imaging (TREC) has become a powerful tool to quickly obtain local receptor nanomaps on complex heterogeneous biosurfaces, such as cells and membranes. In this chapter, we present the TREC technique and explain how to unravel the nano-landscape of cells of the immune system, such as macrophages. We describe the procedures for all steps of the experiment including tip functionalization with Fc fragments via flexible PEG-linker, sample preparation, and localization of Fcγ receptors on macrophages.

Automated manipulation of carbon nanotubes using atomic force microscopy

The manipulation of carbon nanotubes is an important and essential step for carbon-based nanodevice or nanocircuit assembly. However, the conventional push-and-image approach of manipulating carbon nanotubes using atomic force microscopy has low efficiency on account of the reduplicated scanning process during manipulation. In this article, an automated manipulation system is designed and tested. This automated manipulation system, which includes an atomic force microscope platform and a self-developed computer program for one-dimensional manipulation, is capable of automatically moving any assigned individual carbon nanotube to a defined target location without any intermediate scanning procedure. To demonstrate the high-efficiency of this automated manipulation system and its potential applications in nanoassembly, two experiments were conducted. The first experiment used this system to manipulate a carbon nanotube to a defined target location. In the second experiment, this system was used to automatically manipulate several carbon nanotubes for generating and translating a defined pattern of nanotubes.