Development of a Dielectrophoretic Force Scanning Probe Microscope for Non-Contact Biological Imaging

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). With this award from the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities: Instrument Development (CRIF:ID) programs, Prof. Garth Simpson, Gregory Hockerman and Chengde Mao of Purdue University will develop a new kind of scanning probe microscope, based upon the dielectrophoretic force. The microscope that they will develop will allow the team to probe the surfaces of nanoscopic and biological samples without contact of the probe tip with the sample. The graduate student researchers working on this project will collaborate with the Jonathon Amy Facility for Chemical Instrumentation on the Purdue University campus. The project also benefits from collaborations with Veeco instruments, a manufacturer of scanning probe microscopes. Prof. Simpson and his colleagues will use the microscope developed in this award as a topic for outreach activities with the wider community, partnering with a number of on-campus programs, including the Bindley Biosciences Program in Purdue's Discovery Park. New kinds of microscopy techniques open up brand new avenues of research. The instrument developed with this award will enable a new kind of force microscopy, which, unlike other kinds of force microscopies, does not require contact between probe and sample. Technology like that developed in the present award will aid in future advances in chemistry, biotechnology and materials science. In addition, the young scientists working on this project will receive a practical education on bringing new scientific devices from the bench-top to the marketplace.