Scanning force images through the 'Milliscope'--a probe microscope with very wide scan range.

The effectiveness and adequacy of a home-built scanning force microscope (SFM) able to cover a volume of ∼1.2 × 1.2 × 0.13 mm3 (X × Y × Z) were tested on calibrating objects, as well as on cytological and histological samples. The instrument was designed for matching the magnification range of an optical microscope (∼ 20–1200×) but its dynamics were one or two orders of magnitude higher, thanks to a lateral resolution of about 10 nm. Images ranging in size from 1.2 × 1.2 mm2 to 1 × 1 µm2 showed a quality comparable to that given by other SFMs on similar materials. The ‘Milliscope’ is a curious but effective imaging tool whose operating range overlaps at one extreme with a goldsmith's eyepiece, and at the other with an electron microscope. The intrinsic limits of scanning probe techniques and of the available SFM cantilevers prevented us taking complete advantage of the wide height range of our scanner. However, our results show that an instrument having a very wide scan area, obtained through simple, inexpensive and intrinsically linear techniques, can give a good performance even at small scan sizes. This encourages us to develop wide scan instruments, which could further increase the already extensive use of scanning force microscopy in biology.