SBIR Phase I: Atomic Force Microscopy In-Situ in the Transmission Electron Microscope

SBIR 第一阶段：透射电子显微镜中的原位原子力显微镜

• 批准号: 1013888
• 负责人: Daan Hein Alsem
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: Hummingbird Scientific LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1013888&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Atomic; Force; Microscopy

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will combine the two primary experimental methods for characterization in nanotechnology, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and in-situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM), into one tool. The AFM allows high-resolution images to be made of the surface topography of a wide variety of different materials. The TEM allows structural and chemical characterization of the internal structure of a material with atomic resolution. This project will allow the incorporation of a fully functional atomic force microscopy (AFM) system into a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample holder, thereby permitting the complete range of versatile AFM experimentation to be performed coincident with electron beam microcharacterization. The end result will be an AFM that produces images and data in the same manner as commercial AFMs at comparable levels of quality and accuracy, all combined with simultaneous dynamic imaging of the tip-sample interface as well as the internal structure of the sample via the TEM. This will lead to advances in nanotechnology research and development through improved tools that combine the acquisition of nanoscale images of material structure with site-specific characterization of materials properties for cutting-edge research in the physical, biological and chemical sciences.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is rooted in the fact that atomic force and electron microscopy (AFM and EM) are primary tools for characterizing the structure of materials at nanometer length scales. As such, they represent cornerstone techniques in the areas of nanotechnology, condensed matter physics and materials science. Additionally, they are important diagnostic tools for sample characterization and failure analysis in the semiconductor industry, and have wide applicability in biological and medical research. Primary research efforts in these fields revolve around the need to create better experimental methodologies that permit improved understanding of the interrelationship between materials processing and the resulting interplay between microstructure and properties. In-situ experiments enabled by the instrumentation to be developed in this project will find increased use as methods to explore these interrelationships. The current rapid expansion of the field of in-situ EM and the growing EM market (10-15% per year) are additional factors that increase the commercial potential of this product to roughly $1-2 million annually, with an estimated growth rate equal to the broader EM market.

这个小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目将把纳米技术表征的两种主要实验方法——原子力显微镜 (AFM) 和原位透射电子显微镜 (TEM) 结合到一个工具中。 AFM 可以对各种不同材料的表面形貌生成高分辨率图像。 TEM 可以以原子分辨率对材料的内部结构进行结构和化学表征。 该项目将允许将功能齐全的原子力显微镜 (AFM) 系统整合到透射电子显微镜 (TEM) 样品架中，从而允许在电子束微观表征的同时进行全方位的多功能 AFM 实验。 最终结果将是 AFM 以与商业 AFM 相同的方式产生图像和数据，并具有相当的质量和精度水平，所有这些都与通过 TEM 对尖端-样品界面以及样品的内部结构进行同步动态成像相结合。 这将通过改进工具，将材料结构纳米级图像的获取与材料特性的特定位点表征相结合，以促进物理、生物和化学科学领域的前沿研究，从而推动纳米技术研究和开发的进步。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力植根于这样一个事实：原子力和电子显微镜（AFM和EM）是表征纳米长度尺度材料结构的主要工具。 因此，它们代表了纳米技术、凝聚态物理和材料科学领域的基石技术。 此外，它们还是半导体行业样品表征和故障分析的重要诊断工具，在生物和医学研究中具有广泛的适用性。这些领域的主要研究工作围绕着创建更好的实验方法的需要，以便更好地理解材料加工之间的相互关系以及由此产生的微观结构和性能之间的相互作用。 通过本项目中开发的仪器进行的原位实验将越来越多地用作探索这些相互关系的方法。 当前原位 EM 领域的快速扩张和不断增长的 EM 市场（每年 10-15%）是将该产品的商业潜力提高到每年约 1-200 万美元的额外因素，预计增长率与更广泛的 EM 市场相当。