Electron microscopy image of the tip of HS-AFM probe covered with nanodiamonds deposited by Chemical Vapor Deposition at CEA Saclay. These tips are intended to improve imaging reproducibility in membrane protein HS-AFM imaging. The sharp nanodiamonds allow imaging the membrane proteins at high resolution, whereas the globular tip radius (in this case R~50nm) provide good distribution of the applied force via electrostatic balancing in buffer solution.

Finding ways to bring together the capabilities of HS-AFM (label-free, sub-second high resolution imaging, and mechanical sensing and manipulation) with the capabilities of OM (recognition of molecular species, molecular interactions and biochemical-biophysical conditions)