Langmuir, Vol.22, No.7, 2931-2934, 2006
Single-nanoparticle-terminated tips for scanning probe microscopy
We have developed a wet-chemistry procedure to attach a 10-40 nm colloidal gold nanoparticle to the top of a scanning probe microscopy (SPM) probe tip, making experiments of single nanoparticle interaction possible. This procedure of particle attachment is flexible and can be modified to attach nanoparticles of different kinds and sizes. The single-nanoparticle-terminated tips also have potential in various other applications, such as probes of enhanced sensitivity for optical and magnetic modes SPM.