Carbon nanotubes as tips for atomic force microscopy

Ordinary AFM probes' characters prevent the AFM's application in various scopes. Carbon nanotubes represent ideal AFM probe materials for their higher aspect ratio, larger Young's modulus, unique chemical structure, and well-defined electronic property. Carbon nanotube AFM probes are obtained by using a new method of attaching carbon nanotubes to the end of ordinary AFM probes, and are then used for doing AFM experiments. These experiments indicate that carbon nanotube probes have higher elastic deformation, higher resolution and higher durability. And it is also found that carbon nanotube probes can accurately reflect the morphology of deep narrow gaps, while ordinary probes can not reflect.