Specialized probes with nanowhisker structures for scanning probe microscopy

Probes with single nanowhiskers (SNWs) and nanoscalpels (NSs) for scanning force microscopy were created and studied. SNWs consisting of an amorphous Pt/C material and amorphous carbon SNWs were grown up at top of standard Si cantilevers with help of focused electron beam technique. By means of test samples it was shown that a SNW probe give more contrast and accurate images of deep channels and steps on a sample surface in comparison with a standard Si cantilever having the same radius of top as SNW. It was revealed that unlike the standard Si probe, the SNW probe allows to visualize fine nanostructure an erythrocyte membrane. The specialized NS probes achieve better results than standard probes when they work in force lithography mode. Moreover, the possibility of applying NS probes for precision movement of nanoparticles and cell nanosurgery are demonstrated.