Analytical instrumentation based on force measurements: combinatorial atomic force microscopy Original Research Article

Since the creation of atomic force microscopy (AFM), there has been a continual trend to transform what is essentially surface-characterization tool into an instrument for addressing analytical problems. Efforts have focused on the instrumental development of a variety of operating modes as well as the subsequent chemical or biochemical enhancement of these modes. The selectivity of many of the AFM modes has been enhanced by the use of chemically, electrochemically, biomolecularly, and even biologically modified AFM probes. Technical and scientific motivations associated with these modified probes have led to the recent development of an inverted AFM design and its subsequent use for a new enhanced mode of operation called combinatorial atomic force microscopy. This paper presents an overview of the research performed in our laboratory toward the development of combinatorial atomic force microscopy. The current state of the art is described and examined with the aim of determining the plausibility of developing this technique as an analytical tool.