NT-MDT Speсtrum Instruments participates in the International Conference ACNS’2019

1 – 5 of July, 2019, the 14th International Conference Advanced Carbon NanoStructures (ACNS’2019) was held in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

The honorary president of NT-MDT Speсtrum Instruments Victor Bykov delivered a detailed report about the new capabilities of NT-MDT SI equipment in the field of scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy, including various methods combined with optical microscopy and spectroscopy (IR, near-field, tip-enhanced, etc.).

New generation of AFM control electronics now allows a real-time cantilever deflection tracking and analysis. Based on a fast force-distance measurement we developed a new group of non-resonant atomic force microscopy methods of scanning probe spectroscopy - called Hybrid mode. HybriD™ is the advanced AFM mode since it summarizes all advantages of amplitude modulation and contact modes. It allows to conduct free of share force topography measurement with direct tip-sample interaction control, real-time quantitative nanomechanical measurements, conductivity, piezoresponce and electroscatic imaging. All this is done with conventional scanning speed. Hybrid mode is also very helpful for liquid measurements because it utilizes the issue with cantilever eigenfrequency detection.

One of the most demanding applications of AFM is to carry out measurements with molecular and atomic resolution, which requires the achievement of ultra-low thermal drifts at a level below 1 Å / min. Such drift levels were achieved by developing a thermally stabilized cabinet with a temperature control accuracy of 0.01 °C. This environmental platform is compatible with most types of AFM.

To minimize the system setup time, new software algorithms have been developed and continue to be improved, allowing to fully automate the measurement of surface morphology in non-contact mode.

The development of combined SPM-Optical setups implemented in NTEGRA-SPECTRA-II product line provides new opportunities for confocal laser luminescence spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, including TERS. Apertureless scanning near-field optical microscopy (ASNOM) in IR range allows obtaining high resolution sharp contrasts of all structures, including areas with different doping, which is impossible to obtain using electron microscopy.

Summarizing the talk, it was shown that scanning probe microscopy, including in combination with optical microscopy, has expanded significantly - from micro- and nanoelectronics with ultra-high level of metrological research to materials science, biology, ecology and medical diagnostics. At the same time, the operational procedures are significantly simplified, the possibilities of materials recognition, operation with molecules and diagnosing research of living cells are significantly expanded.