Since its first introduction in the 1980s, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has become a widely-used technique for characterizing a variety of materials surface properties. AFM uses a cantilever with a sharp tip to detect the varying forces as the tip is scanned over a sample surface. Not only does...
Atom probe tomography (APT) offers the enticing prospect of being able to determine the identity and position of nearly every atom in a material, providing the ultimate in elemental analysis. The technique involves applying either ultra-fast voltage pulses or laser pulses to a...
Although prepared slides reveal many details about biological specimens, they always leave at least one question dangling: How does this look when it’s alive? A biologist wonders how the organism or molecular component behaves in a dynamic, natural context, and how it interacts with its...