ABSTRACT
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a vital technique to study the
nanoscale structure of materials under various environments. One
of the most coveted new functions of AFM is “fast recording,”
because it allows the observation of dynamic processes occurring
at the nanoscale. The visualization of dynamic processes affords
deep insights into the target objects and phenomena under the
microscope. This new capability of observation should have a
great impact, particularly on life science. Direct and real-time
visualization is a straightforward and powerfulmeans to understand
how biomolecules operate. To materialize high-speed imaging with
AFM, various efforts have been carried out over the past two
decades. Recently, direct imaging of biomolecular processes has
been successfully demonstrated for some proteins. Experimental
conditions for dynamic AFM imaging of biomolecules are different
from those for static AFM imaging in many instances and therefore
often have to be newly devised. In this chapter, we first overview
requirements for the improvement of scanning performance of
AFM and then focus on practical techniques associated with
dynamic AFM imaging, such as preparation of cantilever tips and
substrate surfaces. Finally, representative examples of high-speed
AFM imaging of molecular behaviors difficult to study with other
approaches are shown in the cases of waking myosin V and
bacteriorhodopsin in response to light.
