AFM and combined optical techniques

Since its invention over two decades ago1, scanning probe microscopy has undergone rapid development to become an invaluable metric in the physical, biological, and materials sciences. One of the most exciting advances has been the integration of scanning probe techniques with optical microscopy. This paper will describe some of the basics of scanning probe and optical microscopy as well as some of the technical design challenges present when fusing these two imaging modalities. Examples of research problems solved with these combined techniques will be presented, with an emphasis on the advantages that each modality brings to the experiment.