This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at El CSIC perfecciona la visión de lo más pequeño
The CSIC perfects the vision of the smallest
20/03/2013
20 March 2013
To observe that that the eye does not see and where the conventional microscope neither arrives, developed the microscopía of atomic strength, an application commissioned to perceive the objects of the world nanoscópico. This tool, able to detect forces of law and order of piconewtons (the trillonésima part of a newton) finishes to be perfected thanks to a new technician developed by researchers of the Upper Council of Scientific Investigations (CSIC) .
The improvement has been graduate through a spin off of the institution, the company Next-Tip. It consists in the tank of nanopartículas of chemical composition and size controlled on the already existent probes for the microscopía of atomic strength. The researcher of the Institute of Sciences of Materials of Madrid of the CSIC Yves Huttel, manager of the development, explains: “The studies have showed that the nanopartículas deposited act like effective probes and that when smaller are, better is the resolution in microscopía”.
Comparative of images of AFM taken on the same region of some reverse opals. To the left, the image purchased with a commercial tip. To the right, equivalent image taken with a tip modified with the technology patented by the CSIC.
The probes of microscopía of atomic strength are one of the fundamental elements for the operation of this type of microscopes. They consist in very fine tips that visit the surface to observe. The interaction between the tip and the half of study is the one who offers the information on the surface in question. The technician of the CSIC adds, therefore, the nanopartículas of size and determinate composition to the surface of this tip.
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