Atomic Force Microscope Installed at Synchrotron Site

Asylum Research, a Santa Barbara, Calif., manufacturer of atomic force/scanning probe microscopes,announced the recent installation of its MFP-3D atomic force microscopy (AFM) system at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The high-precision AFM, the first system to be installed at ESRF, will be used in the Surface Science Laboratory for biological and hard condensed matter analysis and to help further the development of instruments specifically dedicated to the X-ray environment, said Fabio Comin, director of the ESRF Surface Science Laboratory. The ESRF, a joint facility supported and shared by 18 European countries, operates the most powerful synchrotron radiation source in Europe. The ESRF Surface Science Laboratory provides tools for characterizing nanostructures. For many years, its efforts have been dedicated to solid-state physics and have resulted in the combination of local probe microscopies with x-ray characterization. Each year, several thousand researchers travel to Grenoble to conduct experiments at the facility. Asylum Research is represented in France by Atomic Force F&E, which installed and will provide the service and support for the AFM system.