IMAGING OF THE SURFACE-STRUCTURES OF EPON THIN-SECTIONS CREATED WITH A GLASS KNIFE AND A DIAMOND KNIFE BY THE ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE

The surface of Epon thin sections of bacterial cells were imaged with an atomic force microscope. The sectioned surface created by a diamond knife was found to be smoother than that made by a glass knife. The b acterial shape embedded in epoxy resin can be clearly seen on a diamon d knife section but not on a glass knife section. The contour of the e mbedded bacterial cell was imaged as an engraved shape in the Epon mat rix. The depth of the engraving was about 6 nm on average measured at the cell wall ridge in the diamond knife section and 30 nm in the glas s knife section.