Overview
- Editors:
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Pier Carlo Braga
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Department of Pharmacology School of Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
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Davide Ricci
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Department of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
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Table of contents (28 protocols)
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Subcellular Structures Investigation
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- Kaushik Nag, Robert R. Harbottle, Amiyo K. Panda, Nils O. Petersen
Pages 231-243
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- Stefan Thalhammer, Pietro Gobbi, Mirella Falconi, Giovanni Mazzotti, Wolfgang M. Heckl
Pages 245-254
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- Stefan W. Schneider, Rainer Matzke, Manfred Radmacher, Hans Oberleithner
Pages 255-279
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- Peter R. Smith, Dale J. Benos
Pages 281-289
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- Dimitrios Fotiadis, Andreas Engel
Pages 291-303
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Functional Investigations with AFM
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Front Matter
Pages 305-305
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- Hiroshi Miyazaki, Kozaburo Hayashi
Pages 307-313
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- Settimio Grimaldi, Marco Girasole, Antonio Cricenti
Pages 323-339
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- Justin Legleiter, Tomasz Kowalewski
Pages 349-364
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- Martin Hegner, Wilfried Grange, Patricia Bertoncini
Pages 369-381
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Back Matter
Pages 383-394
About this book
The natural, biological, medical, and related sciences would not be what they are today without the microscope. After the introduction of the optical microscope, a second breakthrough in morphostructural surface analysis occurred in the 1940s with the development of the scanning electron microscope (SEM), which, instead of light (i. e. , photons) and glass lenses, uses electrons and electromagnetic lenses (magnetic coils). Optical and scanning (or transmission) electron microscopes are called “far-field microscopes” because of the long distance between the sample and the point at which the image is obtained in comparison with the wavelengths of the photons or electrons involved. In this case, the image is a diffraction pattern and its resolution is wavelength limited. In 1986, a completely new type of microscopy was proposed, which, without the use of lenses, photons, or electrons, directly explores the sample surface by means of mechanical scanning, thus opening up unexpected possibilities for the morphostructural and mechanical analysis of biological specimens. These new scanning probe microscopes are based on the concept of near-field microscopy, which overcomes the problem of the limited diffraction-related resolution inherent in conventional microscopes. Located in the immediate vicinity of the sample itself (usually within a few nanometers), the probe records the intensity, rather than the interference signal, thus significantly improving resolution. Since the most we- known microscopes of this type operate using atomic forces, they are frequently referred to as atomic force microscopes (AFMs).
Editors and Affiliations
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Department of Pharmacology School of Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Pier Carlo Braga
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Department of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Davide Ricci