Who we are:
Nano-I is composed of three Mechatronics Engineering students at the University of Waterloo (UW) passionate about revolutionizing the technology behind Atomic Force Microscopes. They are working closely with a UW-based startup, ICSPI (http://www.icspicorp.com/), and helping them transform their CMOS MEMS Scanning Probe Microscope into a user-friendly and efficient AFM for everyone.
What is an AFM:
Atomic Force Microscopes fall under the category of Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM), and are capable of nanometer resolution. In contrast to optical magnification, AFMs construct surface images by "feeling" the surface of samples with a device tip.
Motivation:
Atomic Force Microscopes are very expensive, typically in the $20,000-$150,000 range. They use piezoelectric material, precisely machined stages and various damping techniques making them large and costly. Due to the high costs, AFMs are only affordable in small quantities by research institutions, and by large corporations with lots of money. This makes them difficult to be readily accessible to small companies, research students, and hobbyists, and need to be rented out for use.
Cheaper, Small, and Better Alternative:
ICSPI has developed a MEMS device which integrates the sensors, actuators, circuitry, and a device tip required to scan surfaces. The device currently costs $1000 to manufacture and is tiny, inexpensive, and fast compared to the AFMs on the market. Such an endeavor to port an AFM to its microelectromechanical counterpart has never been done before, and it is predicted that an AFM system based around this technology would greatly broaden the market due to its affordability, and drastically influence the scope of usage of these microscopes.
The device has been proven to produce surface scans as shown in the images below:
Nano-I is composed of three Mechatronics Engineering students at the University of Waterloo (UW) passionate about revolutionizing the technology behind Atomic Force Microscopes. They are working closely with a UW-based startup, ICSPI (http://www.icspicorp.com/), and helping them transform their CMOS MEMS Scanning Probe Microscope into a user-friendly and efficient AFM for everyone.
What is an AFM:
Atomic Force Microscopes fall under the category of Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM), and are capable of nanometer resolution. In contrast to optical magnification, AFMs construct surface images by "feeling" the surface of samples with a device tip.
Motivation:
Atomic Force Microscopes are very expensive, typically in the $20,000-$150,000 range. They use piezoelectric material, precisely machined stages and various damping techniques making them large and costly. Due to the high costs, AFMs are only affordable in small quantities by research institutions, and by large corporations with lots of money. This makes them difficult to be readily accessible to small companies, research students, and hobbyists, and need to be rented out for use.
Cheaper, Small, and Better Alternative:
ICSPI has developed a MEMS device which integrates the sensors, actuators, circuitry, and a device tip required to scan surfaces. The device currently costs $1000 to manufacture and is tiny, inexpensive, and fast compared to the AFMs on the market. Such an endeavor to port an AFM to its microelectromechanical counterpart has never been done before, and it is predicted that an AFM system based around this technology would greatly broaden the market due to its affordability, and drastically influence the scope of usage of these microscopes.
The device has been proven to produce surface scans as shown in the images below:
Needs Statement:
A CMOS MEMS device for scanning nanoscale surfaces exists. An affordable system to utilize the device and construct surface images is required.
Nano-I will be collaborating closely with ICSPI, and will develop and further improve the existing mechanical, electrical, and software design for the MEMS device.
A CMOS MEMS device for scanning nanoscale surfaces exists. An affordable system to utilize the device and construct surface images is required.
Nano-I will be collaborating closely with ICSPI, and will develop and further improve the existing mechanical, electrical, and software design for the MEMS device.