The adsorption of Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase (beta Gal) onto mica surfaces that had been irradiated with fast atomic ions was studied with both ambient and liquid cell tapping mode scanning force microscopy (TM-SFM). The single-ion-impacts resulted in hillock-like defects on the mica surfaces. Both with ambient and liquid cell TM-SFM, we observed an enhancement by a large factor for the preferential adsorption of beta Gal to surface defects, as compared to adsorption on the surrounding flat mica basal plane.