Data-driven Analytics on Scanning Probe Imaging of Biomolecules

Clemmer and Beebe have pointed out that surface structures on graphite substrates can be misinterpreted as biopolymer images in STM experiments. We have been using electrochemical methods to react DNA fragments onto gold electrodes for STM and AFM imaging. The adsorbates produced in this way are only homogeneous in special circumstances. Searching an inhomogeneous substrate for ‘desired’ images limits the value of the data. Here, we report on a reversible method for imaging adsorbates. The molecules can be lifted onto and off the substrate during imaging. This leaves no doubt about the validity or statistical significance of the images. Furthermore, environmental effects (such as changes in electrolyte or surface charge) can be investigated easily.

Download Full-text

Scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy: New tools for biology

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100155864 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 778-779

Author(s):

CE Bracker ◽

P. K. Hansma

Keyword(s):

Physical Property ◽

Scanning Probe ◽

Scanning Tunneling ◽

Small Scale ◽

Tunneling Microscopy ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

New Family ◽

Small Probe ◽

Atomic Force ◽

Transmission Electron

A new family of scanning probe microscopes has emerged that is opening new horizons for investigating the fine structure of matter. The earliest and best known of these instruments is the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). First published in 1982, the STM earned the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics for two of its inventors, G. Binnig and H. Rohrer. They shared the prize with E. Ruska for his work that had led to the development of the transmission electron microscope half a century earlier. It seems appropriate that the award embodied this particular blend of the old and the new because it demonstrated to the world a long overdue respect for the enormous contributions electron microscopy has made to the understanding of matter, and at the same time it signalled the dawn of a new age in microscopy. What we are seeing is a revolution in microscopy and a redefinition of the concept of a microscope.Several kinds of scanning probe microscopes now exist, and the number is increasing. What they share in common is a small probe that is scanned over the surface of a specimen and measures a physical property on a very small scale, at or near the surface. Scanning probes can measure temperature, magnetic fields, tunneling currents, voltage, force, and ion currents, among others.

Download Full-text

Scanning-probe microscope analysis of optical thin films: A new analytical tool in a manufacturing environment

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100173078 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 1068-1069

Author(s):

S. P. Sapers ◽

R. Clark ◽

P. Somerville

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Thermal Control ◽

Scanning Probe Microscope ◽

Scanning Probe ◽

List Type ◽

Manufacturing Environment ◽

Physical Measurements ◽

Probe Microscope

OCLI is a leading manufacturer of thin films for optical and thermal control applications. The determination of thin film and substrate topography can be a powerful way to obtain information for deposition process design and control, and about the final thin film device properties. At OCLI we use a scanning probe microscope (SPM) in the analytical lab to obtain qualitative and quantitative data about thin film and substrate surfaces for applications in production and research and development. This manufacturing environment requires a rapid response, and a large degree of flexibility, which poses special challenges for this emerging technology. The types of information the SPM provides can be broken into three categories:(1)Imaging of surface topography for visualization purposes, especially for samples that are not SEM compatible due to size or material constraints;(2)Examination of sample surface features to make physical measurements such as surface roughness, lateral feature spacing, grain size, and surface area;(3)Determination of physical properties such as surface compliance, i.e. “hardness”, surface frictional forces, surface electrical properties.

Download Full-text

Prospects for scanned-probe microscopy

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100167767 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 6-7

Author(s):

Jean-Paul Revel

Keyword(s):

High Vacuum ◽

Physiological Saline ◽

Scanning Probe ◽

Aqueous Environment ◽

Whole Cells ◽

Material Scientist ◽

Biological Objects ◽

Spatially Resolved ◽

Atomic Force ◽

Scanned Probe Microscopy

In the last 50+ years the electron microscope and allied instruments have led the way as means to acquire spatially resolved information about very small objects. For the material scientist and the biologist both, imaging using the information derived from the interaction of electrons with the objects of their concern, has had limitations. Material scientists have been handicapped by the fact that their samples are often too thick for penetration without using million volt instruments. Biologists have been handicapped both by the problem of contrast since most biological objects are composed of elements of low Z, and also by the requirement that sample be placed in high vacuum. Cells consist of 90% water, so elaborate precautions have to be taken to remove the water without losing the structure altogether. We are now poised to make another leap forwards because of the development of scanned probe microscopies, particularly the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The scanning probe instruments permit resolutions that electron microscopists still work very hard to achieve, if they have reached it yet. Probably the most interesting feature of the AFM technology, for the biologist in any case, is that it has opened the dream of high resolution in an aqueous environment. There are few restrictions on where the instrument can be used. AFMs can be made to work in high vacuum, allowing the material scientist to avoid contamination. The biologist can be made happy as well. The tips used for detection are made of silicon nitride,(Si3N4), and are essentially unaffected by exposure to physiological saline (about which more below). So here is an instrument which can look at living whole cells and at atoms as well.

Download Full-text