Nano and Pico Characterization Laboratory

An unprecedented collection of instrumentation for surface analysis at the nanoscale and beyond.

Dimension® Icon® Atomic Force Microscope with ScanAsyst™

The Dimension® Icon® Atomic Force Microscope with ScanAsyst™ is a next-generation measurement system that brings new levels of performance, functionality, and accessibility to nanoscale researchers. Building upon the world’s most utilized large-sample AFM platform, this latest Dimension system is the culmination of decades of technological innovation, customer feedback and industry-leading application flexibility. The Icon has been designed from top to bottom to deliver revolutionary low drift and low noise that allows users to achieve artifact-free images in minutes instead of hours, enabling increased productivity.

Incorporating the latest evolution of Bruker’s industry-leading tip-scanning AFM technology, the Icon’s temperature-compensating position sensors render noise levels in the sub-angstroms range for the Z-axis, and angstroms in X-Y. This is extraordinary performance in a large-sample, 90-micron scan range system, surpassing the noise performance of most open-loop, high-resolution AFMs.

The Dimension Icon SPM system includes Veeco’s fifth-generation NanoScope V controller, which utilizes advanced high-speed electronics along with A/D and D/A converters operating at 50MHz, to deliver reliable, high-speed data capture. The Dimension Icon offers the most advanced and powerful new features in the industry, such as the revolutionary ScanAsyst and PeakForce QNM modes.

ScanAsyst is Bruker’s revolutionary automated image optimization mode for operation in both liquid and air. It utilizes intelligent algorithms that continuously monitor image quality and make appropriate parameter adjustments to deliver faster, more consistent results, automatically, and regardless of operator skill level.

PeakForce QNM, Bruker’s proprietary, quantitative nanomechanical property mapping option, delivers more accurate, repeatable results for modulus and adhesion measurements while also helping to preserve sample and probe integrity.

Coupled Atomic Switches. Solid-state resistive switches can behave as two-terminal devices controlled through a solid-state redox coupled ion-migration reaction. Conductive AFM (cAFM) was used to create a nanoscale electrical switch with an ON/OFF ratio of nearly 6 orders of magnitude through formation and annihilation of a metallic filament. Here, electrical coupling between individual Atomic Switches is shown. By applying a threshold voltage to a single switch with the cAFM probe, both structures are transformed into the highly conductive ON state.

Drebrin-F-actin complex. AFM images of drebrin decorated F-actin