GOALI: Scanning Probe Recognition Microscopy

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

The family of Scanning Probe Microscopy techniques has revolutionized studies of semiconductors, polymers and nanostructures, with recent dramatic impacts in biomedicine. The key capability of Scanning Probe Microscopy is that, through a controlled combination of feedback loops, detectors and piezoelectric actuation, it enables direct investigations of atomic to nanometer scale phenomena. Due to positioning and actuation issues, current Scanning Probe Microscopy systems do not have the power to reliably return to and directly interact with a specific nanoscale feature of interest. The present research will add this important capability to the already powerful Scanning Probe Microscope family. Our key is to give the Scanning Probe Microscope system itself the power to return to a specific nanoscale feature of interest by recognizing the way that site feels to the Scanning Probe Microscope system rather than by the way the site looks to a human operator. It is a recognition-driven and learning approach, made possible through combining Scanning Probe Microscope piezoelectric implementation with on-line image processing and dynamically adaptive learning algorithms. The human operator is eliminated except for high-end commands; therefore this approach has tremendous potential for widespread implementation. This approach works with the interaction sensing capability of a Scanning Probe Microscope, which has inherently nanometer to atomic resolution. The technique is named Scanning Probe Recognition Microscopy. Successful implementation of Scanning Probe Recognition Microscopy will bring all nanotechnology fields a new level of investigative capability and ease of use. The impact could be especially significant in enabling direct nano-biomedical investigations, since key issues in biology and medicine revolve around regulatory signaling cascades that are triggered through the interaction of specific macromolecules with specific surface receptor sites. The results of applications of Scanning Probe Recognition Microscopy in nano-medicine could be a revolution in newly available direct information from nanoscale living units investigated under nearly life-like conditions. Scanning Probe Recognition Microscopy is co-funded through the NSF GOALI program (Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry). A key element in its success is a strategic partnership with Veeco Metrology /Digital Instruments, the leading developer and manufacturer of Scanning Probe Microscope systems world wide. The partnership will provide a very direct path to make the Scanning Probe Recognition Microscopy capability quickly available throughout the nanotechnology communities, and a unique opportunity for the students involved in the research, which will prepare them to become leaders within the next generation of nanotechnology researchers.