SBIR Phase I: Atomic Force Microscope Active Optical Probe for Single Molecular Imaging and Optical Spectroscopy

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目的重点是证明原子力显微镜(AFM)探头的可行性，这种探头能够在AFM成像的同时实现纳米级光学光谱。由此产生的产品-原子力显微镜主动光学探头(AAOP)-代表了两种技术的高性价比混合：原子力显微镜探头和二极管激光。目前的近场扫描光学显微镜(NSOM)和带有专用远场光学显微镜的混合AFM由于成本高和使用困难而限制了其应用。虽然原子力显微镜在表面表征方面已经非常发达，但在纳米尺度上的光学成像却远远落后。设想的AAOP将可在销售时制造，与竞争对手的仪器相比，成本将降低10至100倍，同时在图像质量和易用性方面优于它们。这一努力的最初市场重点将是AFM市场(目前为1.1亿美元)，随后将扩展到97亿美元的综合光谱分析和纳米工具市场。作为该产品预期影响的一个例子，研究人员和工业科学家将使用AAOP技术进行单分子研究、生物医学样本分析，以及用于微透镜和纳米光子设备--所有这些都比竞争技术的成本低得多。AAOP产品将在单个半导体芯片上结合微米级的半导体激光器、光学光电探测器和原子力显微镜探头。这些独特的光学探头将执行传统AFM探头的功能，并将同时提供有关纳米级光学特性的样本信息。与昂贵的NSOM工具以及AFM与特殊远场光学方法(如共焦、拉曼、荧光和傅里叶变换红外光谱)的混合使用相比，这是一种经济高效的替代方法。AAOP将解决当前NSOM的技术挑战，即背景噪声和低灵敏度。这项工作将证明AAOP的技术和经济可行性，将其安装到传统的AFM上，这是一种在学术界和工业中广泛使用的仪器。预期的技术成果将使AFM用户能够以更高的分辨率和更高的灵敏度、更低的成本和更快的速度进行纳米尺度的光学研究和表征，而不是传统的NSOM和拉曼AFM。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is focused on proving the feasibility of atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes that enable nanoscale optical spectroscopy simultaneously with AFM imaging. The resulting product - an AFM Active Optical Probe (AAOP) - represents a cost-effective blend of two technologies: AFM probes and diode lasers. Current near-field scanning optical microscopes (NSOMs) and hybrid AFMs with specialized far-field optical microscopes have limited usefulness because of high cost and difficulty of use. Though AFM for surface characterization is highly developed, optical imaging at the nanoscale lags far behind. The envisioned AAOPs will be manufacturable at sale and will facilitate a cost reduction of 10 to 100 times as compared with competing instruments, while outperforming them in image quality and ease of use. The initial market focus of this effort will be on the AFM market (currently $110 million), with a later expansion into the combined spectroscopy and nanotools market of $9.7 billion. As one example of the expected impact of this product, the AAOP technology will be used by researchers and industrial scientists for single molecule studies, biomedical sample analysis, and for microlenses and nanophotonic devices?all at a substantially lower cost than competing technologies. The AAOP product will combine a micrometer-sized diode laser, an optical photo detector, and an AFM probe on a single semiconductor chip. These unique optical probes will perform the functions of conventional AFM probes and will simultaneously provide specimen information about optical properties at the nanoscale. This represents a cost-effective alternative to expensive NSOM tools, and to hybrids of AFMs with specialized far-field optical methods such as confocal, Raman, fluorescence, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The AAOP will address the technical challenges of current NSOMs; namely, background noise and low sensitivity. This effort will demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of the AAOP, fitting it onto a conventional AFM, an instrument that is widely used in both academia and industry. The anticipated technical results will provide AFM users the ability to carry out nanoscale optical studies and characterization with better resolution and higher sensitivity, at much lower cost, and more quickly than is possible with conventional NSOM and Raman AFMs.