Cantilever based optical interfacial force microscope

We developed a cantilever based optical interfacial force microscopy (COIFM) that employs a microactuated silicon cantilever and optical detection method to establish the measurement of the single molecular interactions using the force feedback technique. Through the direct measurement of the COIFM force-distance curves, we have demonstrated that the COIFM is capable of unveiling structural and mechanical information on interfacial water at the single molecular level over all distances between two hydrophilic surfaces. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.