%0 Journal Article
%T Improving the Lateral Resolution of Quartz Tuning Fork-Based Sensors in Liquid by Integrating Commercial AFM Tips into the Fiber End
%A Laura Gonzalez
%A David Mart¨ªnez-Mart¨ªn
%A Jorge Otero
%A Pedro Jos¨¦ de Pablo
%A Manel Puig-Vidal
%A Julio G¨®mez-Herrero
%J Sensors
%P 1601-1610
%D 2015
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/s150101601
%X The use of quartz tuning fork sensors as probes for scanning probe microscopy is growing in popularity. Working in shear mode, some methods achieve a lateral resolution comparable with that obtained with standard cantilevered probes, but only in experiments conducted in air or vacuum. Here, we report a method to produce and use commercial AFM tips in electrically driven quartz tuning fork sensors operating in shear mode in a liquid environment. The process is based on attaching a standard AFM tip to the end of a fiber probe which has previously been sharpened. Only the end of the probe is immersed in the buffer solution during imaging. The lateral resolution achieved is about 6 times higher than that of the etched microfiber on its own.
%K atomic force microscopy
%K scanning probe microscopy
%K quartz tuning fork
%K self-sensing probe
%K shear force microscopy
%K nanotip
%U http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/1/1601