Bioelectromechanical imaging by scanning probe microscopy: Galvani’s experiment at the nanoscale

Authors

Sergei V. Kalinin, Condensed Matter Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TNFollow
B. J. Rodriguez, Condensed Matter Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryFollow
J. Shin, Condensed Matter Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Stephen Jesse, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryFollow
V. Grichko, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
T. Thundat, Life Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Arthur P. Baddorf, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryFollow
Alexei GruvermanFollow

Date of this Version

1-1-2006

Comments

Published in Ultramicroscopy 106 (2006) 334–340. Copyright © 2005 Elsevier B.V. Used by permission.

Abstract

Since the discovery in the late 18th century of electrically induced mechanical response in muscle tissue, coupling between electrical and mechanical phenomena has been shown to be a near-universal feature of biological systems. Here, we employ scanning probe microscopy (SPM) to measure the sub-Angstrom mechanical response of a biological system induced by an electric bias applied to a conductive SPM tip. Visualization of the spiral shape and orientation of protein fibrils with 5 nm spatial resolution in a human tooth and chitin molecular bundle orientation in a butterfly wing is demonstrated. In particular, the applicability of SPM-based techniques for the determination of molecular orientation is discussed.