Pacific Nanotechnology Inc.

Liquid cell. Scanning In Liquids with an AFM

Introduction

Introduction
It is often advantageous to scan a sample in an AFM with the sample submerged in a liquid. Liquid cell offer a simple alternative for scanning under liquids with an AFM. Liquid cell, illustrated in Figure 1, is very easy to use. Figure 2 shows the light path for a liquid cell when used in a conventional light lever AFM.

Figure 1: PNI Liquid cells on Nano-RT scanning head. Glass chip in the middle facilitates

optical microscope views of the probe and laser alignment.

Figure 2: Light path in an AFM for a liquid call with the probe submerged in a liquid. The light blue lines designate the "meniscus" formed by the liquid that is trapped between the sample and chip. The probe, shown in black, is mounted on a metal spacer attached to glass chip.