The probes were mounted directly on metal substrates and held magnetically in the Nano-RT atomic force microscope. As shown in Figure 3, a drop of liquid is placed directly on the sample being imaged. After laser alignment, it is very simple to go into tip approach and scan the sample.
Figure 3: Liquid cell positioned above the liquid drop that is on the surface that will be imaged. |
In order to test the concept of using liquid cell for AFM scanning a high impact polysteryne sample was scanned. Figure 4 show the AFM image of the sample with no liquid on the surface.


Figure 4:Topography scans in air of the high impact polysteryne
After scanning the sample in air, a drop of water was placed on the sample and an AFM scan was made of the high impact polysteryne surface in liquid. The AFM scan in liquid is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5:Topography scans in liquid of the high impact polysteryne