Carbon nanotubes believed to be the superior material for the improvement of such scanning probes but have not to date played any role as it is difficult to attach these to the scanning probes (tempting to wonder about graphene.)

Chemists at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena have now found a way to overcome the problems. The research team of (right) Prof. Dr. Ulrich S. Schubert succeeded in developing a new type of process that allows the growth of carbon nanotubes on the actual scanning probe. The innovative discovery is published in Nano Letters.

For this process the Jena scientists are using microwave radiation for gentle but very fast growth of the nanotubes. The growth starts at small cobalt particles, being taken up with the help of the AFM tip.

"The metal particles strongly heat up in the microwave and reach a temperature that is sufficient to convert alcohol vapour into carbon. The heating process works similar to a forgotten spoon in the kitchen microwave which also absorbs the microwave radiation very effectively," explains Tamara Druzhinina from Schubert`s research team.

"Carbon nanotubes can be grown very quickly due to the special conditions inside of the microwave which can generate a pressure up to 20 bar" adds colleague, Dr Stephanie Hoeppener.

Prof Schubert points out the practical benefits of the process: "The method we developed can potentially result in a very cost-efficient production technology of for instance high resolution probes for Scanning Force Microscopy.

"These are already available on the market, but they are very expensive at €350 each. With our process we can reach a price level, that would justify the use of such tips also just for routine measurements."