A NOVEL FORCE-SENSING ARRANGEMENT FOR COMBINED SCANNING FORCE SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY APPLIED TO BIOLOGICAL OBJECTS

The force and compliance upon scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) of macromolecular specimens and the conductivity of the specimens upon sc anning force microscopy (SFM) have been studied, using a hybrid scanni ng force/scanning tunnelling microscope. Unlike conventional force mic roscopy, the sample lies on top of the force sensor. This gives full f reedom in the choice of the shape, size and material of the probing ti p. Hence, the set-up is well suited for those combined scanning probe microscopies, where the probe to sample distance must be kept constant while some property of the sample is measured locally in its near fie ld.