Modification of AFM tips for facilitating picking-up of nanoparticles

The radius of atomic force microscope (AFM) tip is a key factor that influences nonspecific interactions between AFM tip and nanoparticles. Generally, a tip with larger radius contributes to a higher efficiency of picking up nanoparticles. We provide two methods for modifying the AFM tip: one is to wear a tip apex on a solid substrate and the other is to coat a tip with poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). Both the approaches can enhance the adhesion force between the tip and nanoparticles by increasing tip radius. The experimental results show that a modified tip, compared to an unmodified one, achieves six-fold efficiency improvement in the capture of targeted colloidal gold nanoparticles.