Atomic force fluorescence microscopy : combining the best of two worlds

Abstract

The complementary strengths and weaknesses of AFM and optical microscopy leads to the desire to integrate both techniques into a single microscope. This thesis describes the development of a com-bined AFM / confocal °uorescence microscope. This atomic force °uorescence microscope (AFFM) combines high resolution structural imaging with (bio-)chemically speci¯c optical imaging