Ben Krasnow Uses 9 kHz AFM to Image Bacteria and Silver Nanoprisms
Updated
Updated · Hackaday · Jul 5
Ben Krasnow Uses 9 kHz AFM to Image Bacteria and Silver Nanoprisms
1 articles · Updated · Hackaday · Jul 5
Summary
Ben Krasnow’s latest video shows an atomic-force microscope capturing clear images of bacteria, silver nanoprisms and track-etched membranes, extending the tool beyond typical lab demonstrations.
A 9 kHz oscillating probe made the AFM head itself hard to film, so he used a stroboscopic welding camera tuned near that frequency to visualize its motion.
For the biological sample, nattō bacteria were grown, centrifuged and washed, then fixed onto a gelatin-coated silicon wafer, letting the AFM reveal both individual cells and their shared spin-coating alignment.
The microscope also helped inspect laser-etched diffraction gratings by checking whether exposed metal had been removed; acidic and basic etches failed, while electrochemical etching looked more promising.