By combining optical and atomic force microscopy technologies, researchers have discovered a way to complete 3-D measurements of individual biological molecules with unprecedented precision.
Existing technologies allow researchers to measure individual molecules on the X and Y axes of a 2-D plane. The new technology allows researchers to take measurements up high (on the z-axis) with nanometer precision - just a billionth of a meter - without custom optics or special surfaces for samples.
The details of the technology have been published recently in the magazine Nano Letters.
Among the users who could benefit from the technology are medical researchers who need high-resolution data from microscopes.
Source: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2012/08/02/3dmicroscope
