Atomic force microscope

The atomic force microscope (AFM) or scanning force microscope (SFM) is a very high-resolution type of scanning probe microscope, with demonstrated resolution of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. The AFM was invented by Binnig, Quate and Gerber in 1986, and is one of the foremost tools for imaging, measuring and manipulating matter at the nanoscale. The term 'microscope' in the name is actually a misnomer because it implies looking, while in fact the information is gathered by "feeling" the surface with a mechanical probe.
See more at Wikipedia.org...