Nanosensors Inc. is a company that manufactures
probes for use in
atomic force microscopes (AFM) and
scanning probe microscopes (SPM). This private, for profit company was founded November 21, 2018. Nanosensors Inc. is located in Neuchatel, Switzerland.
History
Nanosensors was founded as "Nanoprobe" in 1990,[1] building on research conducted at
IBMSindelfingen on fundamental technologies required for the batch processing of silicon AFM probes using
bulk micromachining.
In 1993, Nanosensors commercialized
SPM and AFM probes worldwide. Their developments in batch processing technologies for producing
AFM probes contributed to introducing
Atomic Force Microscopes into the industry of the time. In recognition of this achievement, Nanosensors discerned the Dr.-Rudolf-Eberle Innovation Award of the German State of
Baden-Württemberg[2] and the Innovation Prize of the German Industry [3] in 1995 and the Innovation Award of the Förderkreis für die Mikroelektronik e.V.[4] in 1999.
In 2002, Nanosensors was acquired by and integrated into Switzerland-based
NanoWorld. It is still an independent business unit.
The PointProbePlus series is directly based on the technology originally developed and commercialized by Nanosensors in 1993. The original PointProbe technology has been upgraded to the PointProbePlus technology in 2004 yielding a reduced variation of tip shape and increased reproducibility of images. It is manufactured from highly doped
mono-crystalline silicon. The tip is pointing into the <100> crystal direction.
PointProbePlus XY-Alignment Series & Alignment Chip
The tip of the AdvancedTEC
AFM probe series[11] protrudes from the end of the
cantilever and is visible through the optical system of the
atomic force microscope. This visibility from the top allows the operator of the microscope to position the tip of this AFM probe at the point of interest.
^Juang, B. J.; Huang, K. Y.; Liao, H. S.; Leong, K. C.; Hwang, I. S. (2010). "AFM pickup head with holographic optical element (HOE)". 2010 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics. p. 442.
doi:
10.1109/AIM.2010.5695758.
ISBN978-1-4244-8031-9.
S2CID17204425.
^Trumper, D. L.; Hocken, R. J.; Amin-Shahidi, D.; Ljubicic, D.; Overcash, J. (2011). "High-Accuracy Atomic Force Microscope". Control Technologies for Emerging Micro and Nanoscale Systems. Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences. Vol. 413. p. 17.
doi:
10.1007/978-3-642-22173-6_2.
ISBN978-3-642-22172-9.
^Nemesincze, P.; Osvath, Z.; Kamaras, K.; Biro, L. (2008). "Anomalies in thickness measurements of graphene and few layer graphite crystals by tapping mode atomic force microscopy". Carbon. 46 (11): 1435.
arXiv:0812.0690.
doi:
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^Haugstad, G.; Jones, R. R. (1999). "Mechanisms of dynamic force microscopy on polyvinyl alcohol: Region-specific non-contact and intermittent contact regimes". Ultramicroscopy. 76 (1–2): 77–86.
doi:
10.1016/S0304-3991(98)00073-4.
^Kimura, K.; Kobayashi, K.; Yamada, H.; Horiuchi, T.; Ishida, K.; Matsushige, K. (2004). "Orientation control of ferroelectric polymer molecules using contact-mode AFM". European Polymer Journal. 40 (5): 933.
doi:
10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2004.01.015.
^Diesinger, H.; Deresmes, D.; Nys, J. -P.; Mélin, T. (2010). "Dynamic behavior of amplitude detection Kelvin force microscopy in ultrahigh vacuum". Ultramicroscopy. 110 (2): 162–169.
doi:
10.1016/j.ultramic.2009.10.016.
PMID19939564.
^Luan, L.; Auslaender, O.; Bonn, D.; Liang, R.; Hardy, W.; Moler, K. (2009). "Magnetic force microscopy study of interlayer kinks in individual vortices in the underdoped cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3O6+x". Physical Review B. 79 (21): 214530.
arXiv:0811.0584.
Bibcode:
2009PhRvB..79u4530L.
doi:
10.1103/PhysRevB.79.214530.
S2CID51760640.
^Nazaretski, E.; Thibodaux, J. P.; Vekhter, I.; Civale, L.; Thompson, J. D.; Movshovich, R. (2009). "Direct measurements of the penetration depth in a superconducting film using magnetic force microscopy". Applied Physics Letters. 95 (26): 262502.
arXiv:0909.1360.
Bibcode:
2009ApPhL..95z2502N.
doi:
10.1063/1.3276563.
S2CID119111208.
^Lantz, M. A.; o’Shea, S. J.; Hoole, A. C. F.; Welland, M. E. (1997). "Lateral stiffness of the tip and tip-sample contact in frictional force microscopy". Applied Physics Letters. 70 (8): 970.
Bibcode:
1997ApPhL..70..970L.
doi:
10.1063/1.118476.
^Terán Arce, P. F. M.; Riera, G. A.; Gorostiza, P.; Sanz, F. (2000). "Atomic-layer expulsion in nanoindentations on an ionic single crystal". Applied Physics Letters. 77 (6): 839.
Bibcode:
2000ApPhL..77..839T.
doi:
10.1063/1.1306909.
^Stucklin, S.; Gullo, M. R.; Akiyama, T.; Scheidiger, M. (2008). "Atomic force microscopy for industry with the Akiyama-Probe sensor". 2008 International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. p. 79.
doi:
10.1109/ICONN.2008.4639250.
ISBN978-1-4244-1503-8.
S2CID23372086.
^Holbery, J. D.; Eden, V. L.; Sarikaya, M.; Fisher, R. M. (2000). "Experimental determination of scanning probe microscope cantilever spring constants utilizing a nanoindentation apparatus". Review of Scientific Instruments. 71 (10): 3769.
Bibcode:
2000RScI...71.3769H.
doi:
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^Boukallel, M.; Girot, M.; Regnier, S. (2008). "A robotic platform for targeted studies on biological cells". 2008 2nd IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics. p. 624.
doi:
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ISBN978-1-4244-2882-3.
S2CID14751744.