Patent ID: 6330824
Filing Date: 2001-12-18
Classification: G01B,G01Q,Y10S

Abstract:
A method of imaging a sample present in a solution, said method comprising:providing a microscope having a cantilever that is under the solution, wherein the cantilever includes a base and a decay length;contacting the cantilever with photothermal energy at a point on the cantilever which is present in solution to cause the cantilever to bend and vibrate, the center of the impinging photothermal energy being positioned at a distance from the cantilever base of from 1 to 2.5 times the decay length of the cantilever; anddetecting the amplitude of vibration of the cantilever from the photothermal energy;wherein the cantilever has at least one coating present thereon to absorb the photothermal energy such that the cantilever bends and vibrates at a resonance frequency.