Variable temperature fluid stage for atomic force microscopy

The design of a simple, variable temperature fluid cell for an atomic force microscope is presented. The stage is based on a thermoelectric heating/co oling element, which allows control of sample and fluid temperature from -5 to 130 degrees C. The stage is stable enough to image at molecular resolut ion almost throughout the range of accessible temperature and can be used f or imaging in either gas or liquids. This allows the molecular scale invest igation of surface phase transitions and chemical kinetics at solid/liquid interfaces by varying the temperature. As an example, we present results of temperature-induced phase transitions in self-assembled surfactant aggrega tes at solid/liquid interfaces. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0 034-6748(00)03202-0].