Patent ID: 11921130
Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Field: Civil engineering (Other fields)
Classification: CPC G  B  C  E  Y | IPC B  C  E  G

Claim 17:
18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon machine readable code that when executed by a processor of a scanning microscopy apparatus cause the apparatus to perform a method comprising:
oscillating an ultramicroelectrode probe tip in height relative to a surface of interest using a piezoelectric positioner fitted with a strain gauge sensor;
detecting damping of an amplitude of the oscillation of the probe tip by detecting by the strain gauge sensor a decrease in the amplitude of the oscillation of the probe tip as compared to an amplitude of oscillation of the probe tip in a bulk solution, the decrease in the amplitude of the oscillation of the probe tip indicating intermittent contact with the surface of interest;
using the detected damping to detect the surface of interest; and
using the probe tip to measure or modify activity of the surface of interest simultaneously with detecting damping.