Improved imaging of soft materials with modified AFM tips

Herein, we report a simple method for making silicon nitride tips hydrophob ic without significantly changing their shape. Specifically, we show that a tomic force microscope (AFM) tips coated with physisorbed multilayers of 1- dodecylamine, when used in air, offer enhanced resolution for both organic and inorganic materials. The reason for this is due to a significant reduct ion in the capillary effect associated with water condensation between the tip and substrate.