Tip in-light on: Advantages, challenges, and applications of combining AFM and Raman microscopy on biological samples

Scanning probe microscopies and spectroscopies, especially AFM and Confocal Raman microscopy are powerful tools to characterize biological materials. They are both non-destructive methods and reveal mechanical and chemical properties on the micro and nano-scale. In the last years the interest for increasing the lateral resolution of optical and spectral images has driven the development of new technologies that overcome the diffraction limit of light. The combination of AFM and Raman reaches resolutions of about 50-150 nm in near-field Raman and 1.7-50 nm in tip enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) and both give a molecular information of the sample and the topography of the scanned surface. In this review, the mentioned approaches are introduced, the main advantages and problems for application on biological samples discussed and some examples for successful experiments given. Finally the potential of colocated AFM and Raman measurements is shown on a case study of cellulose-lignin films: the topography structures revealed by AFM can be related to a certain chemistry by the colocated Raman scan and additionally the mechanical properties be revealed by using the digital pulsed force mode. Microsc. Res. Tech. 80:30-40, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.