Experimental Studies of Resolution in Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy

Abstract

© The Author(s) 2014. Spatial resolution of images recorded with scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) was examined with well-defined samples prepared by focused-ion beam (FIB) milling. Fiduciary standards of controlled size, shape, and spacing were investigated as a function of imaging parameters and pipette tip size. Topographic images of the standards were acquired in ac feedback mode. We report that two features can be resolved when spaced apart at distances as small as 0.5x the probe inner radius, in agreement with recently reported models, and examine effects of probe-surface distance and feature geometry on SICM resolution.