''PREFACE Many are the books and reviews about scanning probe microscopies that cover the basics of their performance, novel developments and state-of-the-art applications. This book may appear to be another of this kind. But it is not. Indeed, this is not another book about scanning probe microscopy (SPM). As authors, we do not aim to focus on what SPM can do, but rather on what SPM cannot do and, most specifically, on presenting the experimental approaches that circumvent these limitations. The approaches are based on the combination of the SPM with two or more techniques that are complementary, in the sense that they can do something that the former cannot. This serves a double purpose: on the one hand, the so-resulting hybrid instrument outperforms the constituent techniques, since it combines their individual capabilities and cancels out their individual limitations. On the other hand, such instrument allows performing experiments of dissimilar nature in a simultaneous manner. But to understand the limitations of any technique also means to understand how this technique works. We do not skip this essential point; on the contrary, we have rather devoted a considerable amount of book space in explaining the basics of each technique as they are being introduced. In the case of SPM, we have endeavoured to present its fundamentals from a different, rather intuitive, perspective that, in our opinion, makes it distinctive from previous literature on the topic and it ultimately serves a pedagogical purpose. At the same time, we have tried to avoid explaining the particularities of each SPM-based technique and opted for a rather generalized approach that may suit everyone''-- Read more...
Content: Introduction Observing Nature: Sequentiality and Simultaneity Combination Macroscopic/Microscopic: Extending Measurable Range to Better Understand the Connection between Ultrastructure and Function Systems That Can Profit from Combined Techniques Final Remarks References Scanning Probe Microscopy as an Imaging Tool: The Blind Microscope Probe Imaging Summary References What Brings Optical Microscopy: The Eyes at the Microscale Fundamentals of Optical Microscopy Fluorescence Microscopy: Bestowing Specificity High-Performance Modes of Fluorescence Microscopy Optical Microscopies: Summary Combined OM-SPM Techniques: Eyesight to the Blind References What Brings the Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy: The Eyes at the Nanoscale Fundamentals of Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy Applications of SNOM References Adding Label-Free Chemical Spectroscopy: Who Is Who? Chemical Spectroscopy Raman (and IR) Microscopy Applications of SPM + Raman Spectroscopy Applications of SPM + IR Spectroscopy References Combining the Nanoscopic with the Macroscopic: SPM and Surface-Sensitive Techniques Model-Based Surface Techniques Fundamentals of Surface Plasmon Resonance Fundamentals of Ellipsometry Fundamentals of Quartz Crystal Microbalance The Combination SPM and Model-Based Surface Techniques References Scanning Probe Microscopy to Measure Surface Interactions: The Nano Push-Puller Force Curves: Surface Forces and More Measuring the Probe-Sample Interaction as a Function of the Relative DisplacementQuantitative Determination of Forces: Instrument and Cantilever Calibration The Issue of Getting Absolute Distances Qualitative Interpretation of Force Curves Chemical Force Microscopy The Science of Pulling: Single Molecules or Ligand-Receptor Pairs The Science of Pushing: Contact Nanomechanics Mapping Interactions Summary References Tidying Up Loose Ends for the Nanopush-Puller: Microinterferometry and the Film Balance Microinterferometry Fundamentals of Reflection Interference Contrast Microscopy The Combined SPM-RICM Technique The Film Balance and Air-Fluid Interfaces Fundamentals of the Film Balance The Combined AFM + Film Balance: The Monolayer Particle Interaction Apparatus (MPIA) References
Abstract: ''PREFACE Many are the books and reviews about scanning probe microscopies that cover the basics of their performance, novel developments and state-of-the-art applications. This book may appear to be another of this kind. But it is not. Indeed, this is not another book about scanning probe microscopy (SPM). As authors, we do not aim to focus on what SPM can do, but rather on what SPM cannot do and, most specifically, on presenting the experimental approaches that circumvent these limitations. The approaches are based on the combination of the SPM with two or more techniques that are complementary, in the sense that they can do something that the former cannot. This serves a double purpose: on the one hand, the so-resulting hybrid instrument outperforms the constituent techniques, since it combines their individual capabilities and cancels out their individual limitations. On the other hand, such instrument allows performing experiments of dissimilar nature in a simultaneous manner. But to understand the limitations of any technique also means to understand how this technique works. We do not skip this essential point; on the contrary, we have rather devoted a considerable amount of book space in explaining the basics of each technique as they are being introduced. In the case of SPM, we have endeavoured to present its fundamentals from a different, rather intuitive, perspective that, in our opinion, makes it distinctive from previous literature on the topic and it ultimately serves a pedagogical purpose. At the same time, we have tried to avoid explaining the particularities of each SPM-based technique and opted for a rather generalized approach that may suit everyone''
