Schematic of a way in which a microcapsule can be compressed between the AFM cantilever and a rigid flat surface

From the same paper as the previous 4 images.

Schematic view of the colloidal probe Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) set-up used for studying PE-multilayered microcapsule (PMC) mechanics. The piezo-crystal P is used to press the cantilever against the capsule resting on a rigid flat substrate. The force necessary to deform the capsule results in deflection of the cantilever that can be measured by the laser-pointer method (the laser L is reflected from the cantilever and a position-sensitive detector D can thus detect small deflection changes). In this way load-deflection curves of the compressed microcapsule, such as that shown in the next slide, can be obtained.

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