Periodic Reporting for period 1 - G-PROBE (Novel Probes for Scanning Probe Microscopy)
Période du rapport: 2022-09-01 au 2024-02-29
One of the most popular and versatile tool in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology is the microscope based on the platform of Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM). For more than 30 years, this type of microscopes has been employed in a wide range of research fields, such as materials science, nanoelectronics or biophysics, playing a key role in observing, interacting and understanding surfaces and interfacial phenomena, all at the nanoscale.
The key element of these microscopes is a nanometric sized probe that is scanned across surfaces with nanometric precision, allowing a set of physical and chemical information of the surface to be obtained, such as topography, electrical properties, or even chemical composition. The outstanding versatility of these multipurpose microscopes is bestowed by the extended variety of probes available in the market, with different shapes, materials, and properties, which makes possible so many different experiments and measurements to be carried out.
In an ideal scenario, the probe has a very well defined geometry and properties that remains unaltered during the entire experiment. However, these desired features are not fulfilled in the current technology and there is an unavoidable variability, wear and damage of the probes during the experiments and usage. Although this is broadly accepted as an inevitable drawback in most of the SPM imaging modes, there are still very powerful SPM techniques that become unreliable and difficult to operate due to a strong dependency on probe’s shape and chemical composition.
In our project we focus on designing, fabricating and testing new probes to make these very powerful yet demanding SPM modes more reliable, easier to use and, in consequence, to be widely employed.
The key element of these microscopes is a nanometric sized probe that is scanned across surfaces with nanometric precision, allowing a set of physical and chemical information of the surface to be obtained, such as topography, electrical properties, or even chemical composition. The outstanding versatility of these multipurpose microscopes is bestowed by the extended variety of probes available in the market, with different shapes, materials, and properties, which makes possible so many different experiments and measurements to be carried out.
In an ideal scenario, the probe has a very well defined geometry and properties that remains unaltered during the entire experiment. However, these desired features are not fulfilled in the current technology and there is an unavoidable variability, wear and damage of the probes during the experiments and usage. Although this is broadly accepted as an inevitable drawback in most of the SPM imaging modes, there are still very powerful SPM techniques that become unreliable and difficult to operate due to a strong dependency on probe’s shape and chemical composition.
In our project we focus on designing, fabricating and testing new probes to make these very powerful yet demanding SPM modes more reliable, easier to use and, in consequence, to be widely employed.
At the nanoscale, SPM probes are not geometrically identical and they become physically and chemically modified during use. To minimize the impact of these variations and modifications on the measurements, we have created probes that possess an internal feature that remains constant during the entire lifespan of the probe, before, during and after an intense use. This feature acts as internal reference signal that can be used to track the damage, and therefore correlate it to the probe performance throughout the experiments.
In this type of SPM microscopies, the SPM probes are consumables. Therefore, in addition to create a new and better product, we also considered the scalability and automatization of the fabrication process. This has been a fundamental factor in our project to ensure a future probe production capable to cover the potential needs of the market, namely production volume, performance and competitive price. The interaction with industries and end-users also served to understand better the needs and help us to redefine our product, new applications and opportunities beyond the SPM field.
In this type of SPM microscopies, the SPM probes are consumables. Therefore, in addition to create a new and better product, we also considered the scalability and automatization of the fabrication process. This has been a fundamental factor in our project to ensure a future probe production capable to cover the potential needs of the market, namely production volume, performance and competitive price. The interaction with industries and end-users also served to understand better the needs and help us to redefine our product, new applications and opportunities beyond the SPM field.
We created a product that outperforms what exists in the market, but also allows unprecedented experiments to be carried out in the SPM arena. To enter in the SPM probes market, which is very competitive and demanding, we want to create a set of SPM probes, based on the same technology of this ERC PoC and suitable for multiple applications. This require further research to explore these new applications, which we aim to carry out in collaboration with end-users and SPM manufacturers. This will give us a strong position to place ourselves in the market of SPM.