Patent ID: 8060943

Claim:
A method for profiling a sample surface, the method comprising: positioning an open-ended double wall carbon nanotube oscillator in close proximity to a sample surface such that the axis of the carbon nanotube oscillator is substantially perpendicular to a sample surface, the carbon nanotube oscillator comprising a stationary carbon nanotube having a first length and a first interior diameter and an oscillatory carbon nanotube positioned within the interior of the stationary carbon nanotube, the oscillatory carbon nanotube having a second length and a second interior diameter that is smaller than the first interior diameter; initiating the oscillation of the oscillatory carbon nanotube; measuring the frequency of oscillation of the oscillatory carbon nanotube; and re-positioning the carbon nanotube oscillator at a plurality of locations perpendicular to the sample surface, re-initiating the oscillation of the oscillatory carbon nanotube and re-measuring the frequency of oscillation at each of the plurality of locations to profile the sample surface.