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A convenient and rapid sample repositioning approach for atomic force microscopy
Author(s) -
SU M.,
PAN Z.,
DRAVID V. P.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-2720.2004.01406.x
Subject(s) - nanometre , atomic force microscopy , base (topology) , microscopy , materials science , translation (biology) , nanotechnology , computer science , optics , composite material , chemistry , physics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , messenger rna , gene
Summary A novel repositioning approach is described for repeated observations of a specimen at a close proximal location in the atomic force microscope. The approach is similar to keystone architecture, whereby the repositioning is achieved by forming a male structured base for the specimen, and a corresponding female counterpart as the frame. For the combination of an acrylic acid frame and a metal base, 90% translation shifts are less than 10 µm, and almost all angular disorientations are within +3° to −3°. Nanometre‐scale surface features can be relocated easily and reliably even after 40 imaging–removal–imaging cycles, dipping the specimen in solutions or heating up to 500 °C.