Scanning Probe Microscopy: A Rapidly Emerging Instrumental Method

Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) was introduced to the scientific community twelve years ago, and its inventors (Binning and Rohrer) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. In the last decade it expanded from a single technique limited to a single medium of imaging, namely ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), to an array of techniques operating in essentially any medium (vacuum, air or solution with and without electrochemical control). In all of these techniques, a probe, positioned in close proximity to the sample, scans its surface and monitors some property that is related to the surface topography or to any other surface property. Not only can surface structures and properties be investigated at ultrahigh resolution with SPM, but surfaces can also be modified by design. The latter capability is ushering in a new era of nanotechnology.