Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. Scanning probe apparatus, comprising:a) a tip-electrode which is coupled to be maintained at a first potential;b) a counter-electrode which is positioned in proximity with the tip electrode and which is coupled to be maintained at a second potential differing from the first potential by a value greater than approximately 150 volts; andc) positioning instrumentation, which is adapted to maintain the tip-electrode at a distance from a surface while scanning the tip-electrode parallel to the surface, and controls the position of the tip-electrode in a scanning direction parallel to the surface to within a resolution sufficient so that the apparatus can be used as a scanning probe microscope. 2. Scanning probe apparatus, comprising:a) a tip-electrode which is coupled to be maintained at a first potential;b) a counter-electrode which is positioned in proximity with the tip electrode and which is coupled to be maintained at a second potential differing from the first potential by a value greater than approximately 150 volts; andc) positioning instrumentation, which is adapted to maintain the tip-electrode at a distance from a surface while scanning the tip-electrode parallel to the surface, and controls the position of the tip-electrode in a scanning direction parallel to the surface to within better than 1.1 microns. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 850 volts. 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 1050 volts. 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 1200 volts. 6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 4500 volts. 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second potential differs from the first potential by a value of at least 15,000 volts. 8. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the tip electrode has point dimensions less than 1 micron across. 9. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the point dimensions are less than 100 nm. 10. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 or 2, wherein the distance of the tip-electrode from the surface is less than about 1 nm.