Do You Need an Atomic Force Microscope?

Sure, everyone needs an AFM! But what is it? From Wikipedia:

 

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy, with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. The precursor to the AFM, the scanning tunneling microscope

 

A device of this staggering capability is surely massively expensive, no? 

 

It turns out it isn't. And in fact, you can make one yourself using plans and STL files developed at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München by Ferdinand Kühner, Robert A. Lugmaier, Steffen Mihatsch, and Hermann E. Gaub. The tutorial explains in brief how it's put together and the parts list, but for a full explanation you'd best head over here to purchase the complete paper, but if you're adventurous you can download the STL files and get started right away!

 

Via LMU