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AFM Probe
Fig. 1 Unlike AFM where micro-machined cantilever is used as a probe, ICM utilizes a pipette probe made of glass or quartz whose inner diameters range 80~100 nm for glass and 30 - 50 nm for quartz respectively.
Similar to Scanning Tunneling Microscopy in ambient air, the ICM operates in liquid without physical contact with the sample. One electrode is placed inside of the pipette, while another is located in a bath solution (See Figure 2). When an external bias is applied between these two electrodes, a current flow is detected through conducting ions. In completing the overall electrical circuit, one needs to account for two electrical resistances at the channel assuming that the resistance of the bath solution is negligible. The first electrical resistance emanates from the frustum shape of the pipette while the second results from the distance between the pipette and the sample surface. When the pipette is far from the surface, the latter electrical resistance diminishes, reaching a saturated current because the resistance due to the tip shape is almost constant during the measurement (See Figure 3a). As the pipette gets closer to the sample however, the volume of the conductive ion channel between the probe and the sample becomes smaller (See Figure 3a), resulting in a rapid decrease of the ionic current, which is in turn used as a reference feedback signal (See Figure 3b). One can also apply an AC modulation to the technique in order to achieve a more stable operation [10] during measurement.
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Although ICM was developed many years ago, it has not been widely used during the last decade due to the instrumentation complexity and the subsequent operational instability, in particular the large Z-bandwidth requirement for proper Z-servo feedback, a key bottleneck overcome by the XE-Bio.
Current Amp
Fig. 2 In ICM, a current flow between two electrodes is detected through conducting ions in the solution. As the pipette gets closer to the sample surface, the volume of conductive ion channel between two electrodes becomes smaller, rapidly decreasing the ionic current.
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Fig. 4 SICM images of live COS-1 cell: (a) and (c) are SICM images whose scan size are 30 um and 40 um, respectively. (b) and (d) are corresponding phase images.
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Fig. 5 ICM top ography of live mouse lung cell (a)* and ICM current error images of live mouse muscle cell (C2C12) (b) * By courtesy of Prof D. Anselmetti and his group at the University of Bielefeld, Germany
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Fig. 7 Targeted localized stimulation can be accomplished by applying a controlled pressure through the pipette hole whose glass surface can be functionalized per customers need.
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Reference
1. Alexander et al., J. Appi. Phys. 65: 164-167 (1989) 2. Rugard and Hansma, Physics Today 43: 23-30 (1990) 3. Jena and Cho, Methods in Cell Biology 68:33-50 (2002) 4. Weisenhorn, et al. Nanotechnology 4:106113 (1993) 5. Hrber et al., Scan.Microsc.6:919 ( 1992) 6. Spudich and Braunstein, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 92: 6976-6980 (1995) 7. Micic et al., Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 34(4): 205-12 (2004) 8. Danker and Oberleithner, 439(6): 671-81 (2000) 9. Hansma et al., Science 243(4891): 6413 (1989) 10. Pastre et al., Ultramicroscopy, 90(1):139, (2001) 11. Korchev et al., Nature Cell Biology 2: 616-9 (2000)
Specifications
ICM Head (Ion Conductance Microscopy) Faraday cage Low noise current amplifier Pipette holder including Ag/AgCl electrodes Operating Mode: ICM (DC and AC mode available) Bias range: -10 - + 10 V Current range: 103 - 1011 V/A Lateral resolution: Pipette size limited Z scan range: 25 m Pipette -Outer diameter: 1.0 mm -Inner diameter: 30 - 50 nm (quartz), 80 - 100 nm (glass)
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