Scanning Tip Microscopy With Applications To Biology

Scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy, denoted here scanning tip microscopy, are two powerful novel techniques for imaging surfaces with atomic resolution. We describe the underlying principles of these two techniques with special emphasis on an instrument developed in our laboratory that uses a laser diode to detect minute deflections of a tip as it raster scans the surface of a sample. Applications of these techniques to research in biology are assessed and their relative merits discussed.