We believe that the concept of open science should go beyond publishing papers in open access journals and sharing source code.
Find out what it takes to build your own AFM head for small cantilevers!
Find out about our custom SPM controller and its software
The OpenSPM 2024 Conference focused on revolutionizing the landscape of scientific research through the integration of open science principles, specifically within the field of scanning probe microscopy (SPM). The conference emphasized the development and sharing of custom-built SPM instruments, with a particular focus on the atomic force microscope (AFM). By addressing the challenges of sharing complex (…)
As technology developers, the outcomes of our research are in part the instruments and technologies themselves. In order to share these research outputs with the wider scientific community, we actively engage in dissemination activities in the form of open hardware workshops (“technology studios”).
These workshops are open to all interested participants (for non-profit purposes). Under our guidance, participants in these workshops build copies of our prototype equipment. This way they learn about the inner workings of the instruments, learn how to use and maintain them, and if desired how to improve upon them.
After successfully assembling and testing the instruments, the participants take the instruments to their home institutions to perform their own research. These workshops are organized roughly once per year (depending on the demand), on an at cost basis.
The first instrument we actively share with the community is a small lever AFM head with photothermal excitation, which is compatible with the broadly available MultiMode AFM systems. Several of these workshops have already taken place, and instruments are now used in labs worldwide.
As we continue to develop new instrumentation, we continuously expand our technology studio offerings. Projects that will be available in the near future are:
- High-speed AFM scanner for use with the photothermal small lever head
- Open source, high-speed AFM controller based on National Instruments LabView FPGA
- 3D printed structured illumination microscope module
Participating research institutes around the world:
- Durham University – Experimental Soft Matter
- University of Basel – Nanolino
- University College London – London Centre for Nanotechnology
- Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid – ForceTool group
- Weizmann Institute of Science – Surface Analysis Laboratory
- University of Technology Twente – Physics of Complex Fluids
- Academia Sinica (IPAS) – Institute of Physics
- Shanghai Jiaotong University
- University of Sheffield – SPM Group
- University of Nebraska Medical Center – College of Pharmacy
- Delft University of Technology – Department of Quantum Nanoscience
- University of California Los Angeles – Gimzewski Lab