Single molecule labeling of an atomic force microscope cantilever tip

In this paper, we present a method to functionalize the very apex of an atomic force microscope cantilever with a single or a few molecules. In force spectroscopy or interaction mapping, the cantilever must be functionalized with only a few molecules to avoid noise or spurious measurements. Here, we covalently attached single molecules to the cantilever by touching it to a paper wetted with a solution of quantum dots. The paper competes with wicking up the hydrophilic surface of the tip. This method has broad applications in scanning probe microscopy where small numbers of molecules are needed on the tip.