Reconstructed 3D image of the tobacco mosaic virus fragments from MRFM. Slices through the sample are shown on the left. One
horizontal slice is highlighted and can be compared to the scanning electron micrograph on the right. Excellent fidelity is observed, even
down to the small dot in the upper right. A vertical slice through the x-z plane is shown at the bottom, showing the virus in cross-section.
The volume sensitivity of this imaging represents a 100 million times improvement compared to the best conventional MRI microscope.
Interestingly, the viruses are seen to sit on a thin layer of proton-rich material. This layer was also observed on a gold control sample,
and is due to an adsorbed hydrocarbon/water layer. This layer layer naturally forms on objects exposed to room air.
