In situ scanning probe microscopy and new perspectives in analytical chemistry

The resolution of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and other scanning p robe microscopies is unprecedented but the techniques are fraught with limi tations as analytical tools, These limitations and their relationship to th e physical mechanisms of image contrast are first discussed, Some new optio ns based on in situ STM, which hold prospects for molecular- and mesoscopic -scale analytical chemistry, are then reviewed. They are illustrated by met allic electro-crystallisation and -dissolution, and in situ STM spectroscop y of large redox molecules, The biophysically oriented analytical options o f in situ atomic force microscopy, and analytical chemical perspectives for the new microcantilever sensor techniques are also discussed. (C) 1999 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.