RETRACTED: Study on Fast and Nanoscale Imaging by High-Resolution Microscopy (Retracted Article)

Scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM), which has advantages of both the AC mode and the conventional DC mode, is free from low-frequency external electronic interference and potential drift while maintaining a high-resolution scanning speed. There are several imaging modes of SICM, such as continuous mode and hopping mode. However, low imaging speed is one of their common disadvantages. A prior knowledge based fast imaging method to solve this problem was proposed in this paper. The key idea is that using a low resolution image obtained in advance as prior knowledge for achieving a further high-resolution image. Since the first image is only for providing prior information, the scan speed is quite fast and a low resolution image can be obtained in a short time. Then the interested area is recognized automatically in a user defined ruler. A second scan will be performed to these recognized areas for high resolution imaging. The experimental results of PDMS gratings and microelectrodes imaging are presented, which demonstrate the increased efficiency and effectiveness of SICM based observation.