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Imaging of Soft and Biological Samples Using AFM Ringing Mode

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Nanoscale Imaging

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1814))

Abstract

Ringing mode of atomic force microscopy (AFM) enables imaging the surfaces of biological samples, cells, tissue, biopolymers, etc. to obtain unique information, such as the size of molecules pulled by the AFM probe from the sample surface, heights of the sample at different load forces, etc. (up to eight different imaging channels can be recorded simultaneously, which is in addition to five channels already available in other rival modes). The imaging can be done in both air (gases) and liquid (buffers). In addition, the images obtained in ringing mode do not have several common artifacts and can be collected up to 20× faster compared to the rival imaging modes. Here we describe a step-by-step approach to collect images in ringing mode applied to biological and soft materials in general. Technical details, potential difficulties, and points of special attention are described.

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Acknowledgments

I.S. gratefully acknowledges funding for this work by NSF CMMI-1435655.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Igor Sokolov & Maxim E. Dokukin

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Igor Sokolov

  3. Department of Physics, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Igor Sokolov

Authors
  1. Igor Sokolov
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  2. Maxim E. Dokukin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Igor Sokolov .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

    Yuri L. Lyubchenko

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Sokolov, I., Dokukin, M.E. (2018). Imaging of Soft and Biological Samples Using AFM Ringing Mode. In: Lyubchenko, Y. (eds) Nanoscale Imaging. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1814. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8591-3_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-8591-3_28

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-8590-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-8591-3

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