Asylum Research, IMM Collaborate on AFM Project

Asylum Research, a Santa Barbara, Calif., manufacturer of atomic force microscopes (AFMs) and the Nanolithography and Scanning Probe laboratory at the Institute of Microelectronics of Madrid (IMM) are collaborating to develop new techniques in AFM cantilever dynamics, focusing on higher harmonic and multiple frequency measurement modes. The project involves Asylum Research licensing intellectual property from the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the joint development of advanced imaging techniques that allow new surface characterization of a variety of materials. Multiple frequency imaging techniques have been pioneered in the IMM lab with the Asylum Research MFP-3D AFM using its Dual AC mode, in which a cantilever is driven at two or more frequencies. The cantilever motion is then analyzed by the advanced MFP-3D digital controller. Asymlum said Dual AC data shows more contrast over a wider range of imaging parameters than does ordinary AC mode data and provides information on the frequency-dependent mechanical properties of a surface. A beta version was released in June. IMM research professor Ricardo Garcia, who heads the nanolithography and scanning probe lab, said, “We strongly believe that multiple frequency imaging techniques will provide the next wave of AFM material characterization.”