A MICROPIPETTE FORCE PROBE SUITABLE FOR NEAR-FIELD SCANNING OPTICAL MICROSCOPY

In this paper it is demonstrated that glass micropipettes have unique applicability as force probes for a variety of imaging conditions and a variety of scanned tip microscopies. These probes are characterized in terms of the parameters that determine their force characteristics. Measurements are presented showing that one can readily achieve force constants of 10 N/m and it is anticipated that a reduction in this force constant by two orders of magnitude can be achieved. Such probes can be produced simply with a variety of geometries that permit a wide range of force imaging requirements to be met. Specifically, the glass micropipette probes reported in this paper are readily produced with apertures at the tip and can thus be applied to near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). This opens the possibility of the long-awaited development of a universal feedback mechanism for NSOM.