Atomic Force Microscopy for Nanoscale Biophysics: From Single Molecules to Living Cells summarizes the applications of atomic force microscopy for the investigation of biomolecules and cells. The book discusses the methodology of AFM-based biomedical detection, diverse biological systems, and the combination of AFM with other complementary techniques. These state-of-the-art chapters empower researchers to address biological issues through the application of atomic force microscopy. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a unique, multifunctional tool for investigating the structures and properties of living biological systems under aqueous conditions with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution. - Summarizes the recent progress of atomic force microscopy in biomedical applications - Presents the methods and skills of applying atomic force microscopy - Aids researchers in investigating the nanoscale biophysics of diverse biological systems

Summarizing the latest trends and the current state of this research field, this up-to-date book discusses in detail techniques to perform localized alterations on surfaces with great flexibility, including microfluidic probes, multifunctional nanopipettes and various surface patterning techniques, such as dip pen nanolithography. These techniques are also put in perspective in terms of applications and how they can be transformative of numerous (bio)chemical processes involving surfaces. The editors are from IBM Zurich, the pioneers and pacesetters in the field at the forefront of research in this new and rapidly expanding area.

Filling a gap in the literature, this book features in-depth discussions on amplitude modulation AFM, providing an overview of the theory, instrumental considerations and applications of the technique in both academia and industry. As such, it includes examples from material science, soft condensed matter, molecular biology, and biophysics, among others. The text is written in such a way as to enable readers from different backgrounds and levels of expertise to find the information suitable for their needs.

Macroscopic cellular structures and functions are generally investigated using biological and biochemical approaches. But these methods are no longer adequate when one needs to penetrate deep into the small-scale structures and understand their functions. The cell is found to hold various physical structures, molecular machines, and processes that require physical and mathematical approaches to understand and indeed manipulate them. Disorders in general cellular compartments, perturbations in single molecular structures, drug distribution therein, and target specific drug-binding, etc. are mostly physical phenomena. This book will show how biophysics has revolutionized our way of addressing the science and technology of nanoscale structures of cells, and also describes the potential for manipulating the events that occur in them.

With the wide application of nanotechnology in scientific research as well as in industrial product development, it is urgent to develop appropriate tools for investigating and manipulating molecules, especially macromolecules at the nanoscale level. Different microscopes are typical equipment. Due to the high resolution, being maximally close to samples' original status and the low requirement of sample preparation, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been applied as a nanotechnology tool since it was invented in 1986. As this equipment utilises the force between the sample and scanning tip rather than the light signal as used by many other microscopes, samples with different optical properties can be investigated with AFM without limitations. AFM has many modes including contact mode and non-contact mode, which can be applied for achieving different purposes depending on the samples' properties and final purposes. Recent force spectroscopy can measure the interaction forces of the tip-sample, which is a function of distance between the tip and the sample, thus called a force-distance curve. Force spectroscopy can also be conducted with static or dynamic modes, which has been widely applied in many fields, especially in biophysics for measuring mechanical properties of living organisms or cells. This book focuses on the research on AFM principles, modes of operation and limitation and they are discussed with detailed examples in various fields, ranging from inorganic materials in physics to organic materials in food science, biomedical science, chemistry and others.

This book features reviews by leading experts on the methods and applications of modern forms of microscopy. The recent awards of Nobel Prizes awarded for super-resolution optical microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy have demonstrated the rich scientific opportunities for research in novel microscopies. Earlier Nobel Prizes for electron microscopy (the instrument itself and applications to biology), scanning probe microscopy and holography are a reminder of the central role of microscopy in modern science, from the study of nanostructures in materials science, physics and chemistry to structural biology. Separate chapters are devoted to confocal, fluorescent and related novel optical microscopies, coherent diffractive imaging, scanning probe microscopy, transmission electron microscopy in all its modes from aberration corrected and analytical to in-situ and time-resolved, low energy electron microscopy, photoelectron microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy in biology, and also ion microscopy. In addition to serving as an essential reference for researchers and teachers in the fields such as materials science, condensed matter physics, solid-state chemistry, structural biology and the molecular sciences generally, the Springer Handbook of Microscopy is a unified, coherent and pedagogically attractive text for advanced students who need an authoritative yet accessible guide to the science and practice of microscopy.

At the interface of biology, chemistry, and materials science, this book provides an overview of this vibrant research field, treating the seemingly distinct disciplines in a unified way by adopting the common viewpoint of surface science. The editors, themselves prolific researchers, have assembled here a team of top-notch international scientists who read like a "who's who" of biomaterials science and engineering. They cover topics ranging from micro- and nanostructuring for imparting functionality in a top-down manner to the bottom-up fabrication of gradient surfaces by self-assembly, from interfaces between biomaterials and living matter to smart, stimuli-responsive surfaces, and from cell and surface mechanics to the elucidation of cell-chip interactions in biomedical devices. As a result, the book explains the complex interplay of cell behavior and the physics and materials science of artificial devices. Of equal interest to young, ambitious scientists as well as to experienced researchers.