nanocharacterization of soft biological samples in shear mode with quartz tuning fork probesnanocharacterization柔软的生物样品在剪切模式与石英音叉调查.pdfVIP

Sensors 2012, 12, 4803-4819; doi:10.3390/s120404803 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Nanocharacterization of Soft Biological Samples in Shear Mode with Quartz Tuning Fork Probes Jorge Otero, Laura Gonzalez and Manel Puig-Vidal * SIC-BIO, Bioelectronics and Nanobioengineering Group, Department of Electronics, University of Barcelona, Marti i Franques, 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; E-Mails: jotero@el.ub.es (J.O.); lgonzalez@el.ub.es (L.G.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: manel.puig@; Tel.: +34-93-403-9161; Fax: +34-93-402-1148. Received: 16 February 2012; in revised form: 29 March 2012 / Accepted: 30 March 2012 / Published: 12 April 2012 Abstract: Quartz tuning forks are extremely good resonators and their use is growing in scanning probe microscopy. Nevertheless, only a few studies on soft biological samples have been reported using these probes. In this work, we present the methodology to develop and use these nanosensors to properly work with biological samples. The working principles, fabrication and experimental setup are presented. The results in the nanocharacterization of different samples in different ambients are presented by using different working modes: amplitude modulation with and without the use of a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) and frequency modulation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria are imaged in nitrogen using amplitude modulation. Microcontact print