| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20100180356 | Nanoindenter - A new type of indenter is described. This device combines certain sensing and structural elements of atomic force microscopy with a module designed for the use of indentation probes, conventional diamond and otherwise, as well as unconventional designs, to produce high resolution and otherwise superior indentation measurements. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100213930 | Integrated micro actuator and lVDT for high precision position measurements - A single housing with a non-ferromagnetic piezo-driven flexure has primary and secondary coil forms of different diameters, one coaxially inside the other, integrated in the flexure. The cylinders defining the planes of the primary and secondaries do not spatially overlap. The secondary coil forms may be wound in opposite directions and wired to provide a transformer device. Movement of the primary relative to the secondaries in the direction of the central axis of the coils can be differentially detected with high precision. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100275334 | Modular atomic force microscope - A modular AFM/SPM which provides faster measurements, in part through the use of smaller probes, of smaller forces and movements, free of noise artifacts, that the old generations of these devices have increasingly been unable to provide. The modular AFM/SPM includes a chassis, the foundation on which the modules of the instrument are supported; a view module providing the optics for viewing the sample and the probe; a head module providing the components for the optical lever arrangement and for steering and focusing those components; a scanner module providing the XYZ translation stage that actuates the sample in those dimensions and the engage mechanism; a isolation module that encloses the chassis and provides acoustic and/or thermal isolation for the instrument and an electronics module which, together with the separate controller, provide the electronics for acquiring and processing images and controlling the other functions of the instrument. All these modules and many of their subassemblies are replaceable and potentially upgradeable. This allows updating to new technology as it becomes available. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100333240 | Fully Digitally Controller for Cantilever-Based Instruments - A controller for cantilever-based instruments, including atomic force microscopes, molecular force probe instruments, high-resolution profilometers and chemical or biological sensing probes. The controller samples the output of the photo-detector commonly used to detect cantilever deflection in these instruments with a very fast analog/digital converter (ADC). The resulting digitized representation of the output signal is then processed with field programmable gate arrays and digital signal processors without making use of analog electronics. Analog signal processing is inherently noisy while digital calculations are inherently “perfect” in that they do not add any random noise to the measured signal. Processing by field programmable gate arrays and digital signal processors maximizes the flexibility of the controller because it can be varied through programming means, without modification of the controller hardware. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20120216322 | Digital Q control for enhanced measurement capability in cantilever-based instruments - A digital system for controlling the quality factor in a resonant device. The resonant device can be a a device that includes a cantilever within its system, such as an atomic force microscope. The quality factor can be digitally controlled to avoid noise effect in the analog components. A direct digital synthesizer implemented in a way that provides access to the output of the phase accumulator. That output is a number which usually drives a lookup table to produce a cosine or sine output wave. The output wave is created, but the number is also adjusted to form a second number that drives a second lookup table to create an adjustment factor to adjust the output from the cosine table. The adjusted digital signal than drives a DA converter which produces an output drive for the cantilever. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120266336 | Fully Digitally Controller for Cantilever-Based Instruments - A controller for cantilever-based instruments, including atomic force microscopes, molecular force probe instruments, high-resolution profilometers and chemical or biological sensing probes. The controller samples the output of the photo-detector commonly used to detect cantilever deflection in these instruments with a very fast analog/digital converter (ADC). The resulting digitized representation of the output signal is then processed with field programmable gate arrays and digital signal processors without making use of analog electronics. Analog signal processing is inherently noisy while digital calculations are inherently “perfect” in that they do not add any random noise to the measured signal. Processing by field programmable gate arrays and digital signal processors maximizes the flexibility of the controller because it can be varied through programming means, without modification of the controller hardware. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120272411 | Nanoindenter - A new type of indenter is described. This device combines certain sensing and structural elements of atomic force microscopy with a module designed for the use of indentation probes, conventional diamond and otherwise, as well as unconventional designs, to produce high resolution and otherwise superior indentation measurements. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20130314078 | Integrated Micro Actuator and LVDT for High Precision Position Measurements - A single housing with a non-ferromagnetic piezo-driven flexure has primary and secondary coil forms of different diameters, one coaxially inside the other, integrated in the flexure. The cylinders defining the planes of the primary and secondaries do not spatially overlap. The secondary coil forms may be wound in opposite directions and wired to provide a transformer device. Movement of the primary relative to the secondaries in the direction of the central axis of the coils can be differentially detected with high precision. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20140223612 | Modular Atomic Force Microscope - A modular AFM/SPM which provides faster measurements, in part through the use of smaller probes, of smaller forces and movements, free of noise artifacts, that the old generations of these devices have increasingly been unable to provide. The modular AFM/SPM includes a chassis, the foundation on which the modules of the instrument are supported; a view module providing the optics for viewing the sample and the probe; a head module providing the components for the optical lever arrangement and for steering and focusing those components; a scanner module providing the XYZ translation stage that actuates the sample in those dimensions and the engage mechanism; a isolation module that encloses the chassis and provides acoustic and/or thermal isolation for the instrument and an electronics module which, together with the separate controller, provide the electronics for acquiring and processing images and controlling the other functions of the instrument. All these modules and many of their subassemblies are replaceable and potentially upgradeable. This allows updating to new technology as it becomes available. | 08-07-2014 |
| 20140317790 | OPTICAL BEAM POSITIONING UNIT FOR ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE - This invention relates to an optical light beam positioning system that enables the combination of two or more light beams of different wavelengths to be focused onto a probe or sample of a scientific instrument, such as an atomic force microscope, for a number of specific uses typical to AFMs, like measuring the deflection or oscillation of the probe and illuminating an object for optical imaging, and less traditional ones like photothermal excitation of the probe, photothermal activated changes in the sample, photothermal cleaning of the probe and photochemical, photovoltaic, photothermal and other light beam induced changes in the sample. The focused light beams may be independently positioned relative to each other. | 10-23-2014 |
