Invited Review Article: Combining scanning probe microscopy with optical spectroscopy for applications in biology and materials science

Abstract

This is a comprehensive review of the combination of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) with various optical spectroscopies, with a particular focus on Raman spectroscopy. Efforts to combine SPM with optical spectroscopy will be described, and the technical difficulties encountered will be examined. These efforts have so far focused mainly on the development of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, a powerful technique to detect and image chemical signatures with single molecule sensitivity, which will be reviewed. Beyond tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and/or topography measurements, combinations of SPM with optical spectroscopy have a great potential in the characterization of structure and quantitative measurements of physical properties, such as mechanical, optical, or electrical properties, in delicate biological samples and nanomaterials. The different approaches to improve the spatial resolution, the chemical sensitivity, and the accuracy of physical properties measurements will be discussed. Applications of such combinations for the characterization of structure, defects, and physical properties in biology and materials science will be reviewed. Due to the versatility of SPM probes for the manipulation and characterization of small and/or delicate samples, this review will mainly focus on the apertureless techniques based on SPM probes.

Hardware combination of confocal microspectroscopy and 3D scanning probe nano-tomography

“…SPM provides information on the location, architecture and various properties (mechanical, electrical, magnetic) of nanostructures directly from the surface of the sample, which makes this method extremely useful for the study of the ultrastructure of a wide variety of objects [10]. The combination of scanning probe and optical microscopy is widely used at present for various biological applications [3,11], however, the main drawback of this correlation method is the inability to st udy nanosca le threedimensional structures.…”

“…The essence of correlative microscopy is combined use of various types of micro-and spectroscopy, giving qualitatively d ifferent and complementar y information on the same area of the test specimen. This approach opens the possibility of nanoscale determination of the volumetric morphology, physical parameters and chemical composition, as well as of the mutual correlations of the obtained characteristics of the sample [1][2][3].…”

“…Суть корреляционной микроскопии -совместное применение различного типа микро-и спектроско-пий, дающих качественно различную и взаимодо-полняющую информацию на одном и том же участке исследуемого образца. Данный подход открывает воз-можность наномасштабного определения объемной морфологии, физических параметров и химического состава, а также взаимной корреляции получаемых характеристик образца [1][2][3].…”

“…СЗМ дает информацию о располо-жении, архитектуре и различных свойствах (механи-ческих, электрических, магнитных) наноструктур непосредственно с поверхности образца, что делает этот метод чрезвычайно полезным для исследова-ния ультраструктуры самых различных объектов [10]. Объединение зондовой и оптической микроскопии широко применяется в настоящее время для различ-ных биологических приложений [3,11], однако глав-ным недостатком данного коррелятивного метода остается невозможность исследования наномасштаб-ных трехмерных структур.…”

Enhanced sensitivity and contrast with bimodal atomic force microscopy with small and ultra-small amplitudes in ambient conditions

“…2 In this respect, the atomic force microscope AFM has established itself as one of the leading instruments in the field by simultaneously providing direct access to the nanoscale and enough versatility to evolve according to demand. 3 For example, dynamic AFM (dAFM) modes of operation are typically employed to map the topography of conductors and insulators with nanoscale, 4 molecular, 5 sub-molecular, [6][7][8][9] and sometimes atomic resolution. [10][11][12] These dynamic modes typically provide alternative channels 13 to simultaneously map compositional variations.…”