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Science 13 September 1991:
Vol. 253. no. 5025, pp. 1261 - 1263
DOI: 10.1126/science.253.5025.1261
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Articles

Imaging Powders with the Atomic Force Microscope: From Biominerals to Commercial Materials

GERNOT FRIEDBACHER 1, PAUL K. HANSMA 1, EMANNUEL RAMLI 2, and GALEN D. STUCKY 2

1 Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
2 Department of Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Atomically resolved images of pressed powder samples have been obtained with the atomic force microscope (AFM). The technique was successful in resolving the particle, domain, and atomic structure of pismo clam (Tivela stultorum) and sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) shells and of commercially available calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and strontium carbonate (SrCO3) powders. Grinding and subsequent pressing of the shells did not destroy the microstructure of these materials. The atomic-resolution imaging capabilities of AFM can be applied to polycrystalline samples by means of pressing powders with a grain size as small as 50 micrometers. These results illustrate that the AFM is a promising tool for material science and the study of biomineralization.

Submitted on February 11, 1991
Accepted on July 10, 1991


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
True Atomic Resolution by Atomic Force Microscopy Through Repulsive and Attractive Forces.
F. Ohnesorge and G. Binnig (1993)
Science 260, 1451-1456
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