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

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将把表征纳米技术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)--整合到一个工具中。原子力显微镜允许制作各种不同材料的表面形貌的高分辨率图像。透射电子显微镜可以用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)系统整合到透射式电子显微镜(TEM)样品夹持器中，从而允许进行与电子束微观表征一致的全套多功能AFM实验。最终的结果将是一台AFM，它以与商用AFM相同的方式产生图像和数据，质量和精度水平相当，所有这些都结合了尖端-样品界面的同步动态成像以及通过透射电子显微镜对样品的内部结构进行成像。这将导致纳米技术研究和开发的进步，改进的工具将获取材料结构的纳米级图像与特定地点对材料性质的表征相结合，用于物理、生物和化学科学的尖端研究。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力植根于这样一个事实，即原子力和电子显微镜(AFM和EM)是表征纳米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中样品表征和失效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需要创造更好的实验方法，使人们能够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。本项目中将开发的仪器实现的现场实验将越来越多地被用作探索这些相互关系的方法。目前现场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增加到每年约100万-200万美元的额外因素，估计增长率与更广泛的EM市场相当。

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.