As reported in FLC Newslink, SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) seeks commercial partners for licensing or collaborative agreements for its rotatable multi-cantilever “Scanning Probe Microscopy” (SPM) head that is able to consolidate several scanning probe tips into a rotating array.
There are over 20 established types of scanning probe microscopes. Currently each microscope requires a separate circuitry box with each one costing $30,000 to $50,000. SSC Pacific has developed a technology that is able to consolidate many circuit boxes into one array that rotates to apply each measurement. Instead of removing a circuit box on the machine and replacing it with another, the user can rotate the scanning probe head and apply the next measurement to the sample.
This technology allows the user to obtain more information about one sample by allowing many different tips to interact with the same measurement site. The system could also save money and materials during production by consolidating circuitry onto one machine.
The growing field SPM is a branch of the field of microscopy and is of benefit to various fields of research operating with microns down to nanometers. SPM has helped advance industries such as solar, data storage, integrated circuits, chemistry, and many medical areas of study like DNA, cell membranes, and bacteria.
For more information, email SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific at ssc_pac_12@navy.mil.
