主题：【原创】原子力显微镜最新进展-2009年 R&D100 发明奖

Agilent Wins R&D100 Award for Scanning Microwave Microscopy Mode for AFM's
By AZoM Materials

Agilent SMM Mode is an innovative technique that combines the calibrated electrical measurement capabilities of a microwave vector network analyzer with the nanoscale spatial resolution of an AFM.
"Agilent is honored to receive an R&D 100 Award for this unique measurement technology," said Jeff Jones, operations manager for Agilent's AFM facility in Chandler, Ariz. "SMM Mode will be a highly useful tool in the evaluation of semiconductor materials and will also have applications in biological and materials research."
SMM Mode, which brings the outstanding sensitivity afforded by vector network analyzers for electrical test down to the scale of an AFM probe for the first time, works on all classes of semiconductors without requiring an oxide layer. The new technique enables complex impedance (resistance and reactance), calibrated capacitance, calibrated dopant density and topography measurements. In addition to working on semiconductors, glasses, polymers, ceramics and metals, SMM Mode lets researchers perform high-sensitivity investigations of ferroelectric, dielectric and PZT materials. Studies of organic films, membranes and biological samples can also benefit from SMM Mode.
The 47th Annual R&D 100 Awards will be formally presented at an awards banquet in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 12. A complete list of the award recipients, including details about each winning innovation, is available at www.rdmag.com.
AFM Instrumentation from Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies offers high-precision, modular AFM solutions for research, industry and education. Exceptional worldwide support is provided by experienced application scientists and technical service personnel. Agilent's leading-edge R&D laboratories ensure the continued, timely introduction and optimization of innovative, easy-to-use AFM technologies.

Dual-head SPM puts two techniques in one
The SOLVER Next from NT-MDT Company, Zelenograd, Moscow, Russia, is one of the new generation of automated scanning probe microscope (SPM). However, it differs from other SPMs in that it offers both atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) capabilities in a single, automatically exchangeable platform. While competitive devices require that the heads or scanners be changed to move from AFM to STM, the SOLVER Next transitions to a new function by automatically focused and aligning the existing head, saving time and effort. Sequential AFM/STM analysis of exactly the same location on the sample is also possible: no relocation of the area of interest is necessary. Similarly, large scans can quickly revert to atomic resolution and full environmental control is maintained for temperature, humidity, and gas type.

Cypher improves closed loop AFM operations
Atomic force microscopy measures and maps topography by mechanically moving a sharp probe across the sample to “feel” the contours of the surface. The Cypher AFM from Asylum Research, Santa Barbara, Calif., offers significant upgrades from the existing field of older AFM/SPMs. Designed from the ground up with a host of new features, the Cypher uses a patented sensor technology that is capable of atomic resolution in all three axes. With positioning accuracies better than 60 picometers (0.06 nm) in X, Y, and Z, these nanopositioning sensors are, according to Asylum Research, the quietest available on an AFM.
This accuracy helps resolve a long-standing problem for AFM users: choosing between the high-resolution of open-loop or accuracy of closed-loop operations. In open-loop operation, there is no positional feedback to compensate for distortions caused by the scanning piezos. In closed-loop operation, sensors track the probe position for more accurate imaging, but sensor noise can affect imaging and measurement. While Cypher exceeds the open-loop resolution of other commercially-available AFM/SPMs, it is in its closed-loop resolution, aided by the low noise (< 0.06 nm) nanopositioning sensors, that Cypher truly differentiates itself.