Improving the lateral resolution of quartz tuning fork-based sensors in liquid by integrating commercial AFM tips into the fiber end

The use of quartz tuning fork sensors as probes for scanning probe microscopy is growing in popularity. Working in shear mode, some methods achieve a lateral resolution comparable with that obtained with standard cantilevered probes, but only in experiments conducted in air or vacuum. Here, we repor...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gonzalez, Laura, Martínez-Martín, David, Otero, Jorge, Pablo Gómez, Pedro José de, Puig-Vidal, Manel, Gómez Herrero, Julio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/673007
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/673007
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s150101601
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Atomic force microscopy
Nanotip
Quartz tuning fork
Scanning probe microscopy
Self-sensing probe
Shear force microscopy
Física
Descripción
Sumario:The use of quartz tuning fork sensors as probes for scanning probe microscopy is growing in popularity. Working in shear mode, some methods achieve a lateral resolution comparable with that obtained with standard cantilevered probes, but only in experiments conducted in air or vacuum. Here, we report a method to produce and use commercial AFM tips in electrically driven quartz tuning fork sensors operating in shear mode in a liquid environment. The process is based on attaching a standard AFM tip to the end of a fiber probe which has previously been sharpened. Only the end of the probe is immersed in the buffer solution during imaging. The lateral resolution achieved is about 6 times higher than that of the etched microfiber on its own