title: Seeing through Walls at the Nanoscale: Microwave Microscopy of Enclosed Objects and Processes in Liquids.
abstract: Noninvasive in situ nanoscale imaging in liquid environments is a current imperative in the analysis of delicate biomedical objects and electrochemical processes at reactive liquid-solid interfaces. Microwaves of a few gigahertz frequencies offer photons with energies of ≈10 μeV, which can affect neither electronic states nor chemical bonds in condensed matter. Here, we describe an implementation of scanning near-field microwave microscopy for imaging in liquids using ultrathin molecular impermeable membranes separating scanning probes from samples enclosed in environmental cells. We imaged a model electroplating reaction as well as individual live cells. Through a side-by-side comparison of the microwave imaging with scanning electron microscopy, we demonstrate the advantage of microwaves for artifact-free imaging.
authors: Alexander
authors: A
authors: Tselev
authors: Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States.|Maryland NanoCenter, University of Maryland , College Park, Maryland 20742, United States.
authors: Jeyavel
authors: J
authors: Velmurugan
authors: Anton V
authors: AV
authors: Ievlev
authors: Sergei V
authors: SV
authors: Kalinin
authors: Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology , Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States.
authors: Andrei
authors: A
authors: Kolmakov
keywords: encapsulation; in situ imaging; near-field microwave microscopy; radiolysis-free in-liquid imaging