Patent ID: 8479309

Claim:
A method of imaging a material submersed in liquid by tapping mode atomic force microscopy, said method comprising the steps of: providing the material submersed in liquid, wherein said material has a submersion depth in said liquid; providing a microfabricated atomic force microscope probe comprising: a cantilever beam having a distal end; a nanoneedle probe having a first end connected to the distal end of the cantilever beam and a second end ending in a tip, wherein the nanoneedle probe has a longitudinally-extending axis extending between said first end and said second end that is substantially perpendicular to a surface of the cantilever beam distal end; immersing a portion of said nanoneedle in said liquid, wherein said nanoneedle immersed portion is sufficient for the tip end to contact the material submersed in liquid and the cantilever beam remains outside said liquid; and oscillating said cantilever beam at an oscillating frequency, wherein the nanoneedle probe tip taps said material during said oscillation, thereby imaging said material in liquid.