Asylum Research Announces Grant Offering for its Band Excitation Technique

November 17, 2009 – Asylum Research, the technology leader in Scanning Probe and Atomic Force Microscopy (SPM/AFM), has announced a new grant program for early adopters to explore the capabilities and applications of the unique new Band Excitation technique. Existing or new Asylum AFM users are encouraged to apply for grants valued at up to $50,000 USD. Additional information on grant submission content and procedures is provided at  www.asylumresearch.com/grants

Operational principle of the BE method in SPM. The excitation signal is digitally synthesized to have a predefined amplitude and phase in the given frequency window. The cantilever response is detected and Fourier transformed (FFT) at each pixel in an image. The ratio of the fast FFT of response and excitation signals yields the cantilever response (transfer function). Fitting the response to the simple harmonic oscillator yields amplitude, resonance frequency, and Q-factor that are plotted to yield 2D images, or used as feedback signals. Reprinted with permission (Nanotechnology 18 (43) (2007)).

“The R&D 100 Award-winning Band Excitation (BE) technique has shown great promise in mapping the conservative interactions, nonlinearities, and energy dissipation of materials on the nanoscale,” said Roger Proksch, Asylum Research President and grants lead. “Stephen Jesse and Sergei Kalinin at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), collaborating with Asylum Research, have developed the BE system where a synthesized excitation signal probes the response of a cantilever at multiple frequencies simultaneously. This method is a fast and sensitive technique which may be useful for understanding and mitigating energy losses in magnetic, electrical, and electromechanical processes and technologies. We encourage new and existing AFM users to apply for the BE grants and to work closely with the Asylum team to blaze new trails with this exciting new technique.”

Suggested grant topics include:
• Energy dissipation in materials.
• Contact resonance measurements for materials properties contrast and quantification.
• Electromechanical properties of materials, including piezo- and ferroelectrics.
• Applications of BE to solar materials – photovoltaics and energetic materials.
• BE methodologies applied to other active probes, such as localized thermal analysis.
• Biological materials including mechanical properties and recognition mechanisms.
• Advanced methodologies for data reduction and analysis.
• Probing nonlinear tip-sample interactions.
• Other nanoscale measurements that can benefit from rapid multiple frequency measurements.

“Classical scanning probe microscopies are based on the excitation and detection of single or, recently, dual frequencies. In doing so, the information on real tip-surface interactions manifested in the fine details of the resonance curve shape is not measured. Implementation of BE on multiple ambient and UHV systems at ORNL has allowed us to achieve several technical breakthroughs in mapping structure, magnetic and electrical dissipation, and electromechanical activity in ferroelectric, multiferroic, and biological systems in ambient, liquid, and vacuum environments,” commented Sergei Kalinin.

Added Stephen Jesse, “Classical SPM offers basically a gray-scale image of cantilever dynamics at a single frequency. Band excitation opens a new and colorful multi-frequency view of the nanoworld that we can already explore, but are just starting to appreciate”.

About Asylum Research

Asylum Research is the technology leader for atomic force and scanning probe microscopy (AFM/SPM) for both materials and bioscience applications. Founded in 1999, we are a company dedicated to innovative instrumentation for nanoscience and nanotechnology, with over 250 years combined AFM/SPM experience from our scientists, engineers and software developers. Our instruments are used for a variety of nanoscience applications in material science, physics, polymers, chemistry, biomaterials, and bioscience, including single molecule mechanical experiments on DNA, protein unfolding and polymer elasticity, as well as force measurements for biomaterials, chemical sensing, polymers, colloidal forces, adhesion, and more. Asylum’s product line offers imaging and measurement capabilities for a wide range of samples, including advanced techniques such as electrical characterization (CAFM, KFM, EFM), high voltage piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), magnetic force microscopy (MFM) with our unique variable field module, quantitative nanoindenting, and a wide range of environmental accessories and application-ready modules.

Asylum’s MFP-3D™ set the standard for AFM technology, with unprecedented precision and flexibility. The MFP-3D is the first AFM with true independent piezo positioning in all three axes, combined with low noise closed-loop feedback sensor technology. The MFP-3D offers both top and bottom sample viewing for easy integration with most commercially-available inverted optical microscopes. Asylum’s new Cypher™ AFM is the world’s first completely new small sample AFM/SPM in over a decade, and sets the new standard as the world’s highest resolution AFM. Cypher provides low-drift closed loop atomic resolution for the most accurate images and measurements possible today, rapid AC imaging with small cantilevers, Spot-On™ automated laser alignment for easy setup, integrated thermal, acoustic and vibration control, and broad support for all major AFM/SPM scanning modes and capabilities.

Asylum Research offers the lowest cost of ownership of any AFM company. Ask us about our industry best 2-year warranty, our legendary product and applications support, and our exclusive 6-month money-back satisfaction guarantee. We are dedicated to providing the most technically advanced AFMs for researchers who want to take their experiments to the next level. Asylum Research also distributes third party cantilevers from Olympus, Nanoworld/Nanosensors, and our own MFM and iDrive™ tips.

Download Grant (PDF)
www.asylumresearch.com/Grants
www.asylumresearch.com