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Science 11 April 1986:
Vol. 232. no. 4747, pp. 211 - 213
DOI: 10.1126/science.232.4747.211
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Articles

Atomic-Resolution Microscopy in Water

RICHARD SONNENFELD 1 and PAUL K. HANSMA 1

1 Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.

The scanning tunneling microscope is revolutionizing the study of surfaces. In ultra-high vacuum it is capable not only of imaging individual atoms but also of determining energy states on an atom-by-atom basis. It is now possible to operate this instrument in water. Aqueous optical microscopy is confined to a lateral resolution limit of about 2000 angstroms, and aqueous x-ray microscopy has yielded a lateral resolution of 75 angstroms. With a scanning tunneling microscope, an image of a graphite surface immersed in deionized water was obtained with features less than 3 angstroms apart clearly resolved. Further, an image measured in saline solution demonstrated that the instrument can be operated under conditions useful for many biological samples.

Submitted on December 23, 1985
Accepted on March 3, 1986


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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