page_title: Scanning ion-conductance microscopy
section_title: Hopping mode
hierarchical_section_title: Scanning ion-conductance microscopy / Imaging modes / Hopping mode
caption_attribution_description: English: hopping mode of a sicm
context_page_description: Scanning ion-conductance microscopy is a scanning probe microscopy technique that uses an electrode as the probe tip. SICM allows for the determination of the surface topography of micrometer and even nanometer-range structures in aqueous media conducting electrolytes. The samples can be hard or soft, are generally non-conducting, and the non-destructive nature of the measurement allows for the observation of living tissues and cells, and biological samples in general.
  It is able to detect steep profile changes in samples and can be used to map a living cell's stiffness in tandem with its detailed topography, or to determine the mobility of cells during their migrations.
context_section_description: In hopping (/backstep/standing approach) mode, the micro-pipette is lowered to the sample until a given resistance is reached, and the height is recorded. Then the pipette is dragged back, laterally moved and another measurement is made, and the process repeats. The topography of the sample can then be reconstituted.
  Hopping mode is slower than the others, but is able to image complex topography and even entire cells, without distorting the sample surface. · .
caption: Trajectory of a SICM probe in hopping mode.
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