Seeing through Walls at the Nanoscale: Microwave Microscopy of Enclosed Objects and Processes in Liquids

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• 作者：Alexander Tselev ; Jeyavel Velmurugan ; Anton V. Ievlev ; Sergei V. Kalinin ; Andrei Kolmakov
• 刊名：ACS Nano
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：March 22, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：10
• 期：3
• 页码：3562-3570
• 全文大小：567K
• ISSN：1936-086X

文摘

Noninvasive in situ nanoscale imaging in liquid environments is a current imperative in the analysis of delicate biomedical objects and electrochemical processes at reactive liquid–solid interfaces. Microwaves of a few gigahertz frequencies offer photons with energies of ≈10 μeV, which can affect neither electronic states nor chemical bonds in condensed matter. Here, we describe an implementation of scanning near-field microwave microscopy for imaging in liquids using ultrathin molecular impermeable membranes separating scanning probes from samples enclosed in environmental cells. We imaged a model electroplating reaction as well as individual live cells. Through a side-by-side comparison of the microwave imaging with scanning electron microscopy, we demonstrate the advantage of microwaves for artifact-free imaging.