Patent ID: 8484758

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a) a first part comprising at least one probe receptacle with a groove, wherein a bottom of the groove is substantially flat, and dimensioned to allow a chip of an AFM probe to move along a longitudinal direction of the groove and to constrain the movement of the chip along a transverse direction, and wherein the grove comprises at one end a substantially tilted plane forming an angle with the bottom of the groove, to facilitate escape of the air bubbles from the at least one probe receptacle in a face-down position of the apparatus; b) a second part comprising a protrusion, wherein a contact area of the protrusion is smaller than the dimensions of the chip, and the protrusion aligns with the at least one probe receptacle when the first and second part are assembled; and c) a fastening element to fasten the first part to the second part; wherein a surface of the apparatus comprises a material having a friction coefficient lower than 0.04, and having an adhesive behaviour sufficiently low to avoid adhesion of the AFM probe, wherein the material is chemically inert, and wherein the apparatus is suitable for holding an AFM probe during a functionalization process, the AFM probe comprising a chip, at least one cantilever, and a tip.