Asylum Research Initiates 2012 Webinar Series February 22: “Smaller and Quieter: Ultra-high Resolution AFM Imaging”

January 30, 2012 – Asylum Research, the technology leader in scanning probe/atomic force microscopy (SPM/AFM), is initiating its 2012 Webinar Series on February 22. The first webinar will focus on ultra-high resolution imaging. AFM pioneer, inventor and Asylum Research co-founder, Dr. Jason Cleveland, will present “Smaller and Quieter: Ultra-high Resolution AFM Imaging.”

Miniaturization of cantilevers for Atomic Force Microscopy has increased their resonant frequencies and decreased their thermal noise, allowing faster, lower noise measurements. When used in the extremely low noise Cypher™ AFM, these levers have enabled significant improvements in imaging resolution in air and especially in liquids. On crystals, individual atomic point defects can now be routinely resolved, and this higher resolution also extends to biological samples. Examples to be shown include the movement of individual point defects in bacteriorhodopsin, atomic point defects in calcite, and resolution of the double-helix structure of DNA in solution.

Bacteriorhodopsin imaged with the Cypher AFM in AC mode using a short cantilever. In the original AFM image (top) missing sub-units are easily resolved (white circle) and its power spectrum shows spots outside of the 10 Angstrom circle, demonstrating sub-nanometer resolution. The lower right image is a correlation average of the original image.

“Recent advances in cantilever and AFM system design have enabled imaging and measurements that were previously not possible. I’ll talk about these advances and show some of our latest achievements and capabilities, which I think will be of substantial interest to the full spectrum of AFM users, from beginners to the most experienced,” said Dr. Cleveland.

To register, please go to www3.gotomeeting.com/register/982536366. Attendance will be limited, so early registration is recommended.

Additional Asylum Research webinars in the coming months will include topics such as fast imaging and nanomechanical analysis tools. Details can be found at the www.AsylumResearch.com.