Scan head for spectroscopic NSOM system

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Nanotechnology begins to realize its promise when engineered complex systems are built on length scales less than one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair. A cost-effective means of seeing how such new structures behave, and verifying that they have been built as designed, uses an ultra-fine needle vibrating extremely close to the structure. This needle "reads" the local surface through both touch and sight - sensing minute changes in force, and transforming light otherwise "stuck" close to the surface into that which travels freely. The careful introduction of "pump" light into systems at just the right spot can cause the sample to give off light with a particular blend of colours, or to change the "feel" of other nanostructures. At the University of Ottawa, we have been constructing an advanced nanosystems characterization facility to understand and validate the performance of record high efficiency solar cells, miniature lasers, and exotic sensor arrays. The desired equipment completes the staged construction of a quarter-million-dollar facility and renders it operational. The requested scan head assembly and nanoaligner will be integrated with the previously purchased components: the scan head control system, confocal optical microscope and ultra-low-light-level-detection spectrometer. Optical pump light is acquired from an existing high-power, broadband tunable dye laser in a shared-use facility.