Vacuum Shear Force Microscopy Application to High Resolution Work

A new technique–Vacuum Shear Force Microscopy (VSFM)–is introduced as a reliable method for maintaining a constant separation between a probe and sample. Elimination of many of the instabilities observed when applying the shear force mechanism to imaging under ambient conditions, allows for routine nanometer lateral and sub-nanometer normal resolution. In this paper this technique is applied, firstly, to the imaging of microtubules (biology) and, secondly, to the patterning and subsequent imaging of nanoscale metal lines (nanofabrication).