The best part. Is that Historically humanity in the past has poked things with sticks to try and understand them. But in the present day we still do, the stick has just become a whole lot cooler.
We never imagined textures could be so quantified. Our ancestors knew nothing of the micro world, they couldn't even conceive of a stick as small as a nanometer and moving so quickly.
@@SpeakerWiggin49 that’s not the point, the point is our ancestors poked things with sticks to try and understand them just like we’re doing now with the microscopic world
Come here. We are experimenting on people. -How do you experiment on people? We stick things in them. - Are you from the Biology Lab? What's a bilogee lab?
@Stellvia Hoenheim I have basic knowledge of AFM, i am not an expert. (I learned new things) My thanks is for the time/effort spend on the research, explanation and rebuilding a 3d printer to AFM to teach people the principle.
Love this so much, its like the most basic nature of humanity. "What the fuck is this? lets poke with a stick" thoughts stand the test of time to the fricking atom
Atomic force microscopy is one of my favorite microscopy techniques, just because it can see down to nanometer resolution, give quantitative data in the Z direction, and the sample does not needs to be in a vacuum. compared to scanning electron microscopy, which requires the sample to be in vacuum, does not see in 3d or give quantitive data in the Z direction. Atomic force microscopes are just so cool
also scanning electron microscope damages the sample because the electrons (since they are accelerated to a somewhat high speed) can hit the electrons in the atoms of the sample itself and affect the valence bonding in the chemical elements under inspection. So, if you making some custom integrated circuit for a client, and you want to verify if it is ok (quality test), you can't use electron microscope since it will introduce defects in the product
@@andrewphillip8432 Present day technology is sufficient for individuals to build personal spacecraft as well as orbiting habitats and factories with all necessary life support systems and communications. Yet almost no one understands the power and capabilities of the programmable femto-second quantum cascade laser array which can not only implement catalytic chemical restructuring on demand but molecular positioning and orientation as well for nano-assembly.
what i really like about your channel right now is that while it hasn't exploded yet, you have enough time to reply to semi-sensible comments that we leave, which i'm pretty sure will not be the case once it takes off :)
Well, if the channel ever does take off in a big way, I'll still try. I like interacting with folks in the comments, I've learned a ton that way! There are _a lot_ of super knowledgeable folks here :)
I hear on good authority that "Tapping on atoms with a very sharp stick" is also a highly technical term. Great video, easy enough to follow even though I had no idea about your field. Thanks for sharing.
With just one atom, the answer would be, not a lot would happen. In fact with atoms up to the mass of Iron, it actually takes energy to split it. But even with a heavier atom, the amount of energy released from just one atom is so small, my guess is you won't notice anything. All of this of course just hypothetically assuming it would even be possible to split an atom, by just tapping on it. In reality, that would be impossible to do with something like this. Atoms are tough little guys, with really strong nuclear forces protecting their integrity. In this scenario, I guess it would be akin to trying to open a bank vault, by blowing on it through a straw. 🤣🤣🤣
@@ColinMacKenzieRobots You wouldn't know, since your gf always chooses one of her other bf's to take her to parties. But hey, at least you get to "respect" her, and give her all your money to call you her bf, right? Chad and Tyrone thanks you for your contribution.
So i've had that project in my mind for a while. A geometry scanner to scan complex surfaces in a more or less automated way. Mechanically like a 3d printer, but with a probe instead of a hotend. Nothing extra fancy, all i want is .5mm of resolution on each axis. Guess now i finally have the inspiration for the probe design. Great stuff!
That's basically a vinyl record player in atomic scale. And I liked how that image gauge block surface resembles Mars surface. I mean, i know they just choose to use that color palette for images but i think it's worth to think about the surface detail/mass ratios of both Mars and gauge blocks.
This is a very good intro to the SPM world, amazing! One quick note, AFM cantilevers don't have a mirror glued on top, instead they might be coated with a metal, like aluminum and gold for certain applications, like AFM imaging in liquid. Cheers!
Honestly I can’t think of a single case in my life where I would need this but it’s still cool information. Ps: awesome deal, maybe unorthodox but a sweet deal
Very cool indeed! I just finished a very similar project at university. We made our own Scanning Tunnelling Microscope! Uses most of the same principles, but instead of tapping on the surface, you move a very sharp probe about an atom away from the surface. Then when a small voltage between the probe and the sample is applied, a magical current appear that is extremely distance sensitive. Our goal was to see atoms, so a micrometer is pretty huge in my brain currently :)
@@BreakingTaps It is a bit confusing the difference between "making contact" and "not making contact", as "physical contact" is a remote interaction between fields, so maybe what is meant by "contact" is when the tip is close enough to produce phonons and potentially exchanging atoms, or rearranging them on the surface, hence potentially causing wear, sticking the needle to the surface, cross-contamination and change in topography?
@@_John_P Hehe good eye, I definitely glossed over that (well, I recorded a bunch trying to explain, but it was confusing and long so got cut). And looks like I technically mispoke in the final cut as well. So my understanding is that "contact" mode AFM relies on the very-close range repulsive forces between the tip and the surface. I believe this repulsive force starts just a few angstroms above the surface, and is why the cantilever is very soft so as to prevent damaging the surface (or tip) too much as they are strongly shoving on each other at that point. The so-called "non-contact" AFM relies on attractive forces at a longer distance, and measures how the attraction to the surface changes the resonance of the cantilever. I believe non-contact cantilevers are much stiffer to prevent them from being pulled down to the surface, and typically have much more sensitive amplifiers to detect the small attractive force. But yeah, you're totally right: all the forces are remote and nothing is _really_ in contact once you get small enough :)
Dude your channel is just awesome. This is going to get so much attention from so many huge RUclipsrs and science lovers alike. I hope you continue down the path of DIY optical tools also. The community needs a well-designed DIY spectrometer, Along with so many other pieces of DIY optical test equipment and scientific apparatus! I think you’re just the man for the job! Your last few videos have me so excited about the possibilities!
A lot of people think that the analog music industry is based in nostalgia and archaic technology. But there is musical detail in a record groove that gets down to this level.
honestly you having showed the results at the start of the video encouraged me to watch the rest of the video. most of the time i find it patronizing that i have to skip to the end to see the results.
Dropping out means the system has failed you. Not the other way around. It's not a testament to your character. Plenty of legendary thinkers have been fed up with or been failed by the system. If you're curious and rigorous then you're a scientist.
There's a bunch of really cool new types of AFMs that also have characterization like the nanoIR from bruker. The same ir peaks seen with an ftir also induce a greater volume change than other wavelengths. The AFM tip detects this change in the surface. You can get 10-20nm characterization resolution and it is very surface sensitive with a penetration of just a few nm. There's also a nano-raman and a nano-ftir.
AFM can do cells, proteins, DNA, etc! The cantilever is actually very "soft" (although the tip is quite hard) so it will happily scan other soft things like cells or polymers. Mine can only do dry materials so I would have to dry/fix cells to make it work (on the todo list!), but there are other AFMs that specialize in wet environments, like for alive cell cultures. There are even variants that can record the "adhesion" force, and it's used to help differentiate proteins on the surface of cells, since different proteins are more or less "sticky" than the surrounding cell membrane. There's a sorta-classic AFM experiment that looks at DNA which I might try some day. It's supposed to be pretty tough, but the results are neat when it works :)
- So next week we will be building an MRI scanner... Like every time I see Breaking Taps I genuinely beam with excitement to see how the hell he's going to outdo the last video. And although he didn't say he would be building an MRI scanner, I bet most people thought "When did he say that", rather than "Don't be silly"..
WOW! That is *amazing* ! Excellent explainer, the “macro AFM” is great. I learned a lot; I’d always assumed that AFMs were measuring some sort of chemical-type interaction force. They were somewhat conflated in my mind with STMs (scanning tunneling microscopes). I’m **intensely** envious of (a) all your gear but (b) especially your new pro-level AFM. (Brilliant tech; when I saw your macro AFM, I immediately thought that flexures would be a great way to do the x/y movement, then saw that that’s exactly what the ICSPI unit uses, only built with MEMS technology. I wonder if I could 3D print a platform to carry the probe, using flexures? - And also wonder what the ultimate limits might be of your Macro AFM approach. ==> I know they only work on a “request a quote” basis, but *is there any way you could get ICSPI to let you tell us what the overall range of prices is* for the model you have? I assume there are a lot of different configurations, so likely a broad range of prices, but maybe they’d let you tell us the general range? I doubt I’d remotely be able to afford one, but would love to know I’d it’d ever be a possibility. (I used a mini-SEM in college for semiconductor research I was doing at the time; it was the most fun instrument I’ve ever used 😁)
This is the kind of science content I love. Using cool tools to do cool things. Also that was a great use of a scale model. Great content as always. I'm honestly surprised you don't have like 300k subs already.
I love the RUclips algorithm, it has lead me to some of the most awesome channels like yours, the summer of maths exposition was awesome. Thought emporium, and some other channel that speaks about Optics. I can't wait to graduate to start doing some experiments in my free time
Super inspiring work! The "janky" prototype was actually my favorite part of the video! It made the concept very clear (you can't see a MEMS device working!)
seeing on how little time humanity went from steel-ball-airbag accelerometers to this is insane. Semiconductor and MEMS tech was beyond a paradigm shift for sensor tech.
*Addendum* - More footage of the probe scanning here: ruclips.net/video/m0UK7LVSZ8g/видео.html - If I mispoke, leave a comment and I'll add to this addendum! I'm new to AFM :) - Sorry for the "glow". Some poor life choices were made while filming (fogger, for cInEmAtIc haze) and made my life hell in editing. Lessons were learned 🙃 - There are _many_ types of scanning probe techniques, I'm only describing a very small handful of techniques for topographic information. I might cover other techniques in the future, there are dozens! There are equally many variations of topographic AFM itself, and each manufacturer has their own special sauce, so my comments are just general statements :) - Scans were post-processed in Gwyddion, and the 3D animations done in Blender - The Macro-AFM architecture is: arduino driving voice coil and measuring back-EMF, a grbl controller handling stepper motors, Rust program talking to both of those and providing a browser-based UI - I should have elaborated on spatial resolution more: the final resolution you get is a combination of tip radius and surface geometry. A wide tip (100nm) can still get you high precision (few nm) spatial resolution if the surface is very flat and the features are not high aspect ratio. But high aspect ratio like nanoparticles or trenches will require a sharper tip that itself has a high aspect ratio, so that the tip can access the internal geometry. So spatial resolution is variable depending on what tips you load and what the sample looks like - Gage block is a cheapo import from Shars, so I'm not sure if this is representative of precision ground surfaces in general, or just cheaply ground ones :)
@@MichaelWatersJ No particular reason :) Any suggestions for better color schemes? Definitely new to color maps in general, not sure what the best strategy is
Do you think it'd be possible to combine this with something like the Open Flexture Stage to slightly move the object over to rescan and expand the area? It doesn't need to do this super accurately as long as there is some overlap since that could be used to stitch the scans together automatically.
Awesome video! Only thing to note is that there actually are quite a lot of modes that use contact mode as the base! It does dull the tip more, but with a proper calibration you can limit the forces applied to the surface. Some interesting contact mode applications are like conductive AFM (CAFM), piezo force (PFM), scanning capacitance (SCM) and more!
I'm actually impressed. How is your voice not causing any scan interference? How is it scanning that quick, 20x20um would take up to an hour in my experience. This is eye opening
They need to send one of these things to Applied Science, This Old Tony and Clickspring too. You guys are marketing gold dust. Well done for getting hold of one. Great video.
"Here's the surface of a precision ground gauge block" Missed a spot Post video edit: Wow, that is some seriously interesting tech. It seems so crude and archaic to just kind of smack something with a stick to look at it; especially on those scales, I would almost think it would effect the results a lot more. That is really fascinating
I'm in awe... I have never seen this kind of scanning. The quality of the scan from the home made version... Wow. The quality from the company one...wow! I can't even think of projects where I would use it. The area is really small, but the speed of the results... Impressive. Thank RUclips for the recommendation, subscribed.
There was a guy on hackaday who DIYed an AFM. For the probe he just took some tungsten wire and pulled it until it snapped. Apparently that's all you need for an atomically sharp probe :)
Fantastic exposition Zach. Congratulations on the deal you made with ICSP too, and thanks to them for making this possible. The axiom goes "Never read the comments" but your channel amongst a few others is an exception to the rule. I think I've spent more time enjoying the comments and thinking about what you've presented than the video actually lasted. I do hope to see more AFM microscopy, and perhaps a home brew setup too.
Agreed! I've learned a ton from folks that watch these videos, really happy the little community of folks that drop by to comment. So pleasant and knowledgeable! :)
If you like this look into SNOM scanning near field optical microscope which is essentially an AFM but also provides optical information such as absorption etc and sub diffraction resolutions. ie you can get nano meter optical resolutions with longer wavelength light such as IR.
The technology has only moved forward. Now it is possible to scan at a rate of up to 30 frames/second, so you can observe molecules in action. High-speed AFM allows you to see DNA "dance" for instance. With ultrasharp tips you can also see the major and minor groove of DNA.
I'm used to dealing with the likes of rocket motor turbo-pumps, but I must say, your presentation, here, is most satisfying in the realization that the world of macro vs. the world of micro share the same 'data' challenges ... I.O.W. ..."Parts are Parts". Thanks ... I've subscribed.
When your mic started picking that up it almost sounds like someone standing in the doorway across the room slowly letting the air out of a balloon and that image will not leave my mind. 🤣🤣 I done cracked myself up.
I like the style of your videos good sir! Start with the cool stuff and then capture my attention and then explain it, that way you don't lose me 3 minutes into the video. That deserves a sub.
What an absolutely staggering piece of equipment. Mind-Blown. Thank you very much for showcasing it for us, and for creating an overwhelming craving for this piece of equipment in myself and probably thousands of others. Hard to believe that such power can exist in such a compact, plug-and-play form.
You could be seeing diffraction effects from the ablation laser interfering with itself. A more controlled setup along this lines is used for etching actual diffraction gratings.
Perhaps you can scan aluminum or titanium plates that have been anodized different colors to see the difference of each colored sample… as the molecular structure of the oxide layer created by the anodization process determines which colors of the full spectrum get absorbed and which ones are reflected back to our eyes.
In one of your videos, microscopic lense shapes, you warned of hazardous acids. I almost died recently fr. digestive bleed. This caused me to look up Phosphoric acid, which I had. Nasty stuff!! I just got rid of it. Thanks so much!!!!
My uncle , Manuel Pumarol Crestar is one of the scientific team that invented the whole process and the process of the experiments as well, look up Manuel Pumarol Crestar and atomic force
Incredible performancy by such a tiny machine! Now, you could try to ENGRAVE something, using the same equipment, on some soft material - which can be hardened afterwards by heat or some chemistry. Afterwards, you can scan what you engraved... And get a proove of the densiest ROM ever. Would like to see!
When you edit in the output of the AFM from the laptop screen, maybe superimpose it over the laptop screen and leave the AFM itself visible. I know it's not doing much, but that only helps drive home the tiny dimensions involved, and is more informative than two output screens showing the same thing.
Yeah, that was a mistake on my part, there were a bunch of questions/comments to that effect. I added a section to this video which showed what it looked like so that folks could see it in action and get a sense of scale if you're interested! ruclips.net/video/m0UK7LVSZ8g/видео.html
Quantum physicist:"Observations will change the outcome because at that scale the means of observation will disturb the experiment". Microscope maker: "TOUCH IT NOW."
You could try ellipsometry to check for a diamond layer. The data will allow identification by refractive index. A traditional setup would be: 1 light source, 1 photodetector, 2 polarizers, 2 quarter waveplates that you rotate by hand to 16 different angles.
I have a physical and nanochemistry exam tommrow where there will definintly be some questions about AFM. This couldn't have been posted at a better time!
I’m guessing the funnest part of having an ATM is dreaming of things to place under it. This might be a silly question, but could you scan the surface tension of a liquid? Or, can you make several scan passes of a respiratory droplet over time as it evaporates or nucleation droplet condensing around a particle. I dunno, I just wanna throw junk underneath it and play all day. Thanks for another neat-o noodle scratcher.
Hmm, there are some very "soft" AFMs out there, and some that can work in liquid. I'm not sure if there are any that do both though. Mine is definitely not allowed to be used with liquids, it messes up the MEMs mechanism. But it's an interesting idea to think about! Would be neat to see the scan of a droplet :)
There were a bunch of questions about this, so I posted some more of the microscope working in this video: ruclips.net/video/m0UK7LVSZ8g/видео.html Should have put more footage of the probe in action during this video, but didn't think of it at the time :)
What about using a stainless wire about, iunno, 24 or 32 gauge for the tip? If you're careful, you could probably weld or braise the wire to your cantilever. Stainless wire is easy to find and obtain; most local metal foundries can supply it and it's available online for cheap. If you're careful to keep the wire as straight as possible, you shouldn't have to worry too much about deformation. You could also use a hypodermic needle with the end filed flat. That'd give you even more rigidity against banging the tip against the sample.
Shows the results at the beginning of the video : ABSOLUTE LEGEND
That's actually a really good way to grab attention, especially with results that good I want to know how it was achieved :D
This guy has a PhD degree
I agree
That alone got me to sub
Super absolute legend
The best part. Is that Historically humanity in the past has poked things with sticks to try and understand them. But in the present day we still do, the stick has just become a whole lot cooler.
We never imagined textures could be so quantified. Our ancestors knew nothing of the micro world, they couldn't even conceive of a stick as small as a nanometer and moving so quickly.
@@SpeakerWiggin49 that’s not the point, the point is our ancestors poked things with sticks to try and understand them just like we’re doing now with the microscopic world
@Stellvia Hoenheim ..... Pls stop.
Come here. We are experimenting on people.
-How do you experiment on people?
We stick things in them.
- Are you from the Biology Lab?
What's a bilogee lab?
They are a lot cooler for sure!!! And much much much smaller 😂
Amazing! As a technician in a physical lab i applaud you for the great explanation, and the macroscale AFM makes it so much clearer for everyone!
@Stellvia Hoenheim I have basic knowledge of AFM, i am not an expert. (I learned new things)
My thanks is for the time/effort spend on the research, explanation and rebuilding a 3d printer to AFM to teach people the principle.
Can we talk about how he literally built a scanning microscope for demonstration purposes?
macroscope :o
@@deepspacemachines lol true
This is a completely different lifestyle of focus. I thought my KD in Cod was good... this man is helping solve wonders of the world.
@d3adsoulja i meant the macroscopic one
I don't think it is a "scanning microscope." I think it's actually a "probing macroscope."
Holy shit that pcb is crazy, those little flexures are really cool
Right?! Miracle of engineering, it's wild that these things are possible at all.
@Stellvia Hoenheim Stellvia of the Universe
Love this so much, its like the most basic nature of humanity.
"What the fuck is this? lets poke with a stick" thoughts stand the test of time to the fricking atom
YES!! That and "let's smash these two things together to see what flies out"
@@199NickYT you forgot "lets burn these things to see what happens"
@@theman13532 Or even "let's poke it with a (nanoscopic) stick"
Atomic force microscopy is one of my favorite microscopy techniques, just because it can see down to nanometer resolution, give quantitative data in the Z direction, and the sample does not needs to be in a vacuum. compared to scanning electron microscopy, which requires the sample to be in vacuum, does not see in 3d or give quantitive data in the Z direction.
Atomic force microscopes are just so cool
also scanning electron microscope damages the sample because the electrons (since they are accelerated to a somewhat high speed) can hit the electrons in the atoms of the sample itself and affect the valence bonding in the chemical elements under inspection. So, if you making some custom integrated circuit for a client, and you want to verify if it is ok (quality test), you can't use electron microscope since it will introduce defects in the product
@@absolute___zero That’s true too
It’s really incredible we get to have complete MEMS AFMs in 2021. Seems like this came a bit early
Nah, 2021 owes us.
2021? We should have halfway mature universal assemblers.
@@ExtantFrodo2 idk man transistors aren’t even 100 years old yet. Micro fabrication is still very new
@@andrewphillip8432 Present day technology is sufficient for individuals to build personal spacecraft as well as orbiting habitats and factories with all necessary life support systems and communications. Yet almost no one understands the power and capabilities of the programmable femto-second quantum cascade laser array which can not only implement catalytic chemical restructuring on demand but molecular positioning and orientation as well for nano-assembly.
@@ExtantFrodo2 Personal spacecraft?
what i really like about your channel right now is that while it hasn't exploded yet, you have enough time to reply to semi-sensible comments that we leave, which i'm pretty sure will not be the case once it takes off :)
Well, if the channel ever does take off in a big way, I'll still try. I like interacting with folks in the comments, I've learned a ton that way! There are _a lot_ of super knowledgeable folks here :)
@@BreakingTaps MEMS technology is an Ukrainian conspiracy to inject mind-controlling chips into our [1/286]
@@danielguy3581 Correct but it isn't Ukrainian. It was created by the illuminati lizard overlords that [1/274]
@@1SmokedTurkey1 Me, not knowing what you guys are talking about at the end of your comments [1/404]
I hear on good authority that "Tapping on atoms with a very sharp stick" is also a highly technical term.
Great video, easy enough to follow even though I had no idea about your field. Thanks for sharing.
try it in a CD, we should be able to see the data in the grooves.
you can see that with a regular microscope
Cds are covered in plastic, you can't get to the pits that are in the foil.
@@milothedestroyerify you can remove the foil.
*Pokes atom with*
*Accidentally splits atom*
“FUCK”
With just one atom, the answer would be, not a lot would happen. In fact with atoms up to the mass of Iron, it actually takes energy to split it. But even with a heavier atom, the amount of energy released from just one atom is so small, my guess is you won't notice anything.
All of this of course just hypothetically assuming it would even be possible to split an atom, by just tapping on it. In reality, that would be impossible to do with something like this. Atoms are tough little guys, with really strong nuclear forces protecting their integrity.
In this scenario, I guess it would be akin to trying to open a bank vault, by blowing on it through a straw. 🤣🤣🤣
@@mierbeuker8148 Wow. You must be a blast at parties. Mansplaining the technical feasibility of every joke. 🤣
@@ColinMacKenzieRobots You wouldn't know, since your gf always chooses one of her other bf's to take her to parties. But hey, at least you get to "respect" her, and give her all your money to call you her bf, right? Chad and Tyrone thanks you for your contribution.
@@mierbeuker8148 I'm worried about ya man
This is incredible. Imagine how cheap it could be if it was mass-produced
So i've had that project in my mind for a while.
A geometry scanner to scan complex surfaces in a more or less automated way.
Mechanically like a 3d printer, but with a probe instead of a hotend.
Nothing extra fancy, all i want is .5mm of resolution on each axis.
Guess now i finally have the inspiration for the probe design.
Great stuff!
That's basically a vinyl record player in atomic scale. And I liked how that image gauge block surface resembles Mars surface. I mean, i know they just choose to use that color palette for images but i think it's worth to think about the surface detail/mass ratios of both Mars and gauge blocks.
This is a very good intro to the SPM world, amazing! One quick note, AFM cantilevers don't have a mirror glued on top, instead they might be coated with a metal, like aluminum and gold for certain applications, like AFM imaging in liquid. Cheers!
Whoops, good point! I was watching a lecture on the origins of STM/AFM and "glued on top" got stuck in my head haha. AFM in liquid is pretty wild!
Honestly I can’t think of a single case in my life where I would need this but it’s still cool information.
Ps: awesome deal, maybe unorthodox but a sweet deal
As a private person there isn't really a need aside from curiosity. But it is absolutely a marvelous research tool.
For the sake of science, just the fact that we now know something we didn't before is valuable enough
Very cool indeed! I just finished a very similar project at university. We made our own Scanning Tunnelling Microscope! Uses most of the same principles, but instead of tapping on the surface, you move a very sharp probe about an atom away from the surface. Then when a small voltage between the probe and the sample is applied, a magical current appear that is extremely distance sensitive. Our goal was to see atoms, so a micrometer is pretty huge in my brain currently :)
Goodness, now that is definitely brain breaking. Very cool!
@@BreakingTaps It is a bit confusing the difference between "making contact" and "not making contact", as "physical contact" is a remote interaction between fields, so maybe what is meant by "contact" is when the tip is close enough to produce phonons and potentially exchanging atoms, or rearranging them on the surface, hence potentially causing wear, sticking the needle to the surface, cross-contamination and change in topography?
@@_John_P Hehe good eye, I definitely glossed over that (well, I recorded a bunch trying to explain, but it was confusing and long so got cut). And looks like I technically mispoke in the final cut as well. So my understanding is that "contact" mode AFM relies on the very-close range repulsive forces between the tip and the surface. I believe this repulsive force starts just a few angstroms above the surface, and is why the cantilever is very soft so as to prevent damaging the surface (or tip) too much as they are strongly shoving on each other at that point. The so-called "non-contact" AFM relies on attractive forces at a longer distance, and measures how the attraction to the surface changes the resonance of the cantilever. I believe non-contact cantilevers are much stiffer to prevent them from being pulled down to the surface, and typically have much more sensitive amplifiers to detect the small attractive force.
But yeah, you're totally right: all the forces are remote and nothing is _really_ in contact once you get small enough :)
The Macro FM is amazing!!! I did not expect such a great result
Me either! Was honestly shocked how nice it came out, especially after the meh confocal results :)
That is one of the coolest tools I’ve seen… & the scans are so quick. 🤯
For real. I work on a nearly 20 year old system at work and it takes around 8 minutes per scan 😂
that macroscale AFM was amazing! This is quickly becoming one of my favorite channels, unique, very well explained and filmed topics.
Dude your channel is just awesome. This is going to get so much attention from so many huge RUclipsrs and science lovers alike. I hope you continue down the path of DIY optical tools also. The community needs a well-designed DIY spectrometer, Along with so many other pieces of DIY optical test equipment and scientific apparatus! I think you’re just the man for the job!
Your last few videos have me so excited about the possibilities!
A lot of people think that the analog music industry is based in nostalgia and archaic technology. But there is musical detail in a record groove that gets down to this level.
Everyone: You can't see shit on the atom level cuz it's so small.
Science: Hold my beer.
once we're doing lithography in the angstrom range maybe we will?
Still waiting for those atomic shots....
This is just absurd. The production quality and depth you go into on your videos never ceases to amaze me. Absolutely stunning.
He deffently valid for showing the results at the start
"An old 3d printer I had laying around" lol wow it is the future.
honestly you having showed the results at the start of the video encouraged me to watch the rest of the video. most of the time i find it patronizing that i have to skip to the end to see the results.
I find it odd how im a high-school drop out and i find myself watching videos like this.
It also crazy how small that probe is.
Dropping out means the system has failed you. Not the other way around. It's not a testament to your character. Plenty of legendary thinkers have been fed up with or been failed by the system. If you're curious and rigorous then you're a scientist.
There's a bunch of really cool new types of AFMs that also have characterization like the nanoIR from bruker. The same ir peaks seen with an ftir also induce a greater volume change than other wavelengths. The AFM tip detects this change in the surface. You can get 10-20nm characterization resolution and it is very surface sensitive with a penetration of just a few nm. There's also a nano-raman and a nano-ftir.
Wow, this is amazing stuff! Is AFM only for examining rigid materials, or would it also work on cells, viruses, etc?
AFM can do cells, proteins, DNA, etc! The cantilever is actually very "soft" (although the tip is quite hard) so it will happily scan other soft things like cells or polymers. Mine can only do dry materials so I would have to dry/fix cells to make it work (on the todo list!), but there are other AFMs that specialize in wet environments, like for alive cell cultures. There are even variants that can record the "adhesion" force, and it's used to help differentiate proteins on the surface of cells, since different proteins are more or less "sticky" than the surrounding cell membrane.
There's a sorta-classic AFM experiment that looks at DNA which I might try some day. It's supposed to be pretty tough, but the results are neat when it works :)
@@BreakingTaps Cool! Thanks for the detailed explanation - very deep subject.
- So next week we will be building an MRI scanner...
Like every time I see Breaking Taps I genuinely beam with excitement to see how the hell he's going to outdo the last video. And although he didn't say he would be building an MRI scanner, I bet most people thought "When did he say that", rather than "Don't be silly"..
"Glompy" I see you are also a person of Science. (:
"...it seemed like a crime to wait till the end of the video to show those."
Never have I ever subscribed to a new (to me) youtuber in my life.
WOW! That is *amazing* ! Excellent explainer, the “macro AFM” is great. I learned a lot; I’d always assumed that AFMs were measuring some sort of chemical-type interaction force. They were somewhat conflated in my mind with STMs (scanning tunneling microscopes). I’m **intensely** envious of (a) all your gear but (b) especially your new pro-level AFM. (Brilliant tech; when I saw your macro AFM, I immediately thought that flexures would be a great way to do the x/y movement, then saw that that’s exactly what the ICSPI unit uses, only built with MEMS technology. I wonder if I could 3D print a platform to carry the probe, using flexures? - And also wonder what the ultimate limits might be of your Macro AFM approach.
==> I know they only work on a “request a quote” basis, but *is there any way you could get ICSPI to let you tell us what the overall range of prices is* for the model you have? I assume there are a lot of different configurations, so likely a broad range of prices, but maybe they’d let you tell us the general range? I doubt I’d remotely be able to afford one, but would love to know I’d it’d ever be a possibility.
(I used a mini-SEM in college for semiconductor research I was doing at the time; it was the most fun instrument I’ve ever used 😁)
Know a few people that worked on this tech from Waterloo and the ngauge costs around $10,000-$15,000
@@Gaetano.94 That actually seems remarkably inexpensive!👍
This is the kind of science content I love. Using cool tools to do cool things. Also that was a great use of a scale model. Great content as always. I'm honestly surprised you don't have like 300k subs already.
I love the RUclips algorithm, it has lead me to some of the most awesome channels like yours, the summer of maths exposition was awesome. Thought emporium, and some other channel that speaks about Optics. I can't wait to graduate to start doing some experiments in my free time
I have investigated AFM before; the lowest price then was ~$25k.
What is the price range for the nGauge ?
$15k with first 4 tips. Tips $200@ in 4pack ($800).
@@jimquinn That's not horrible if you have a need for it.
@@jimquinn What is the expected 'lifetime' of a tip?How is that measured?
$100@ ($400/4pk) std wedge tip, $200@ ($800/4pk) DLC sharp tip
@@billpeiman8973 hundreds of scans, see ICSPI's "tip" web page......
I love that some of the most precise measurement techniques can be described as "poking it with a stick".
Super inspiring work! The "janky" prototype was actually my favorite part of the video! It made the concept very clear (you can't see a MEMS device working!)
Congrats to you and to ICSPI because both have done a good deal. I think the two of you should be pretty happy
seeing on how little time humanity went from steel-ball-airbag accelerometers to this is insane. Semiconductor and MEMS tech was beyond a paradigm shift for sensor tech.
*Addendum*
- More footage of the probe scanning here: ruclips.net/video/m0UK7LVSZ8g/видео.html
- If I mispoke, leave a comment and I'll add to this addendum! I'm new to AFM :)
- Sorry for the "glow". Some poor life choices were made while filming (fogger, for cInEmAtIc haze) and made my life hell in editing. Lessons were learned 🙃
- There are _many_ types of scanning probe techniques, I'm only describing a very small handful of techniques for topographic information. I might cover other techniques in the future, there are dozens! There are equally many variations of topographic AFM itself, and each manufacturer has their own special sauce, so my comments are just general statements :)
- Scans were post-processed in Gwyddion, and the 3D animations done in Blender
- The Macro-AFM architecture is: arduino driving voice coil and measuring back-EMF, a grbl controller handling stepper motors, Rust program talking to both of those and providing a browser-based UI
- I should have elaborated on spatial resolution more: the final resolution you get is a combination of tip radius and surface geometry. A wide tip (100nm) can still get you high precision (few nm) spatial resolution if the surface is very flat and the features are not high aspect ratio. But high aspect ratio like nanoparticles or trenches will require a sharper tip that itself has a high aspect ratio, so that the tip can access the internal geometry. So spatial resolution is variable depending on what tips you load and what the sample looks like
- Gage block is a cheapo import from Shars, so I'm not sure if this is representative of precision ground surfaces in general, or just cheaply ground ones :)
Nice Blender work! Any reason you stuck with the classic yet boring AFM colormap?
@@MichaelWatersJ No particular reason :) Any suggestions for better color schemes? Definitely new to color maps in general, not sure what the best strategy is
JET map for the win
Do you think it'd be possible to combine this with something like the Open Flexture Stage to slightly move the object over to rescan and expand the area?
It doesn't need to do this super accurately as long as there is some overlap since that could be used to stitch the scans together automatically.
Awesome video! Only thing to note is that there actually are quite a lot of modes that use contact mode as the base! It does dull the tip more, but with a proper calibration you can limit the forces applied to the surface. Some interesting contact mode applications are like conductive AFM (CAFM), piezo force (PFM), scanning capacitance (SCM) and more!
This is one of the best explanations of AFM I've seen
I'm actually impressed. How is your voice not causing any scan interference? How is it scanning that quick, 20x20um would take up to an hour in my experience. This is eye opening
They need to send one of these things to Applied Science, This Old Tony and Clickspring too. You guys are marketing gold dust. Well done for getting hold of one. Great video.
@Stellvia Hoenheim Don't shit your pants man.
"Worlds sharpest knife" would not only be a practical application for an electron microscope but, a great title for a RUclips video.
This would be so incredibly cool if schools got to play with This and show students nano scale stuff!
"Here's the surface of a precision ground gauge block"
Missed a spot
Post video edit: Wow, that is some seriously interesting tech. It seems so crude and archaic to just kind of smack something with a stick to look at it; especially on those scales, I would almost think it would effect the results a lot more. That is really fascinating
That quiet electronic interference killed me hahahaha
I'm in awe... I have never seen this kind of scanning. The quality of the scan from the home made version... Wow. The quality from the company one...wow! I can't even think of projects where I would use it. The area is really small, but the speed of the results... Impressive. Thank RUclips for the recommendation, subscribed.
There was a guy on hackaday who DIYed an AFM. For the probe he just took some tungsten wire and pulled it until it snapped. Apparently that's all you need for an atomically sharp probe :)
it's funny the electronic interference came in right as he was talking about acoustic interference on the microscope lol
Cosmic irony :)
@@BreakingTaps Check out iZotope RX - it's a great audio repair tool.
Fantastic exposition Zach. Congratulations on the deal you made with ICSP too, and thanks to them for making this possible. The axiom goes "Never read the comments" but your channel amongst a few others is an exception to the rule. I think I've spent more time enjoying the comments and thinking about what you've presented than the video actually lasted. I do hope to see more AFM microscopy, and perhaps a home brew setup too.
Agreed! I've learned a ton from folks that watch these videos, really happy the little community of folks that drop by to comment. So pleasant and knowledgeable! :)
Your enthusiasm makes me all that more excited about this device
The similarities between a needle on a record player tracking a grove on an LP are so cool.
If you like this look into SNOM scanning near field optical microscope which is essentially an AFM but also provides optical information such as absorption etc and sub diffraction resolutions. ie you can get nano meter optical resolutions with longer wavelength light such as IR.
The technology has only moved forward. Now it is possible to scan at a rate of up to 30 frames/second, so you can observe molecules in action. High-speed AFM allows you to see DNA "dance" for instance. With ultrasharp tips you can also see the major and minor groove of DNA.
Wow I got this in my recommended and I'm not disappointed this is amazing
I'm used to dealing with the likes of rocket motor turbo-pumps, but I must say, your presentation, here, is most satisfying in the realization that the world of macro vs. the world of micro share the same 'data' challenges ... I.O.W. ..."Parts are Parts". Thanks ... I've subscribed.
Awesome channel. Love the videos. I get so excited to watch the videos. I almost want to speed it up so i can watch them and absorb them faster
When your mic started picking that up it almost sounds like someone standing in the doorway across the room slowly letting the air out of a balloon and that image will not leave my mind. 🤣🤣 I done cracked myself up.
best science and filming skills on utube combined for sure!
This is fantastic, it's a well-done video, and I loved the almost subliminal 'boop' when the probe contacted.
Thanks! ❤ I couldn't resist the boop haha 😂
Incredible tec, really neat to see. Thanks for sharing!
I would love to see some of the laser induced graphene you made under the AFM!
I like the style of your videos good sir! Start with the cool stuff and then capture my attention and then explain it, that way you don't lose me 3 minutes into the video. That deserves a sub.
i'm curious what is the scale of pricing for those machines. Quite unfortunate they didn't provide the price on their site directly
What an absolutely staggering piece of equipment. Mind-Blown. Thank you very much for showcasing it for us, and for creating an overwhelming craving for this piece of equipment in myself and probably thousands of others. Hard to believe that such power can exist in such a compact, plug-and-play form.
You could be seeing diffraction effects from the ablation laser interfering with itself. A more controlled setup along this lines is used for etching actual diffraction gratings.
Perhaps you can scan aluminum or titanium plates that have been anodized different colors to see the difference of each colored sample… as the molecular structure of the oxide layer created by the anodization process determines which colors of the full spectrum get absorbed and which ones are reflected back to our eyes.
I guess no-one has any idea of the price? I mean what range are we talking about?
@Gabe Lackman Oh dear god. Ok.
Awesome pictures at the start. Thank you
In one of your videos, microscopic lense shapes, you warned of hazardous acids. I almost died recently fr. digestive bleed. This caused me to look up Phosphoric acid, which I had. Nasty stuff!! I just got rid of it. Thanks so much!!!!
My uncle , Manuel Pumarol Crestar is one of the scientific team that invented the whole process and the process of the experiments as well, look up Manuel Pumarol Crestar and atomic force
Your lab is like a toy store. Man, the fun things we could do in there.
First video i see from you Breaking Taps and i gotta say this is one of the most underrated channel ive come across. You're good!
Incredible performancy by such a tiny machine! Now, you could try to ENGRAVE something, using the same equipment, on some soft material - which can be hardened afterwards by heat or some chemistry. Afterwards, you can scan what you engraved... And get a proove of the densiest ROM ever. Would like to see!
"unorthodox payment" it's called barter and it's literally the oldest most original form of payment in the history of the world. Awesome video!
When you edit in the output of the AFM from the laptop screen, maybe superimpose it over the laptop screen and leave the AFM itself visible. I know it's not doing much, but that only helps drive home the tiny dimensions involved, and is more informative than two output screens showing the same thing.
Yeah, that was a mistake on my part, there were a bunch of questions/comments to that effect. I added a section to this video which showed what it looked like so that folks could see it in action and get a sense of scale if you're interested! ruclips.net/video/m0UK7LVSZ8g/видео.html
Quantum physicist:"Observations will change the outcome because at that scale the means of observation will disturb the experiment".
Microscope maker: "TOUCH IT NOW."
You could try ellipsometry to check for a diamond layer. The data will allow identification by refractive index. A traditional setup would be:
1 light source,
1 photodetector,
2 polarizers,
2 quarter waveplates that you rotate by hand to 16 different angles.
subbed, liked, etc. i respect you putting the results at the beginning of the video.
Wow. Finally a non-gigantic object to look at small objects. Definitely subscribed to the channel
That MEMS probe is super dope !
i wonder how easy it is to diy an afm microscope around it. Because that mems bit is really the whole microscope almost.
guy really went to some scientist like "yo dawg, I an influenzer, gimmie thing, I show to my 10's of followers"
I'm amazed by the existence of this channel!
Its insane when you think about the fact that we have a probe that could easily and readily fit between the wavelengths of LITERAL lightwaves
I have a physical and nanochemistry exam tommrow where there will definintly be some questions about AFM. This couldn't have been posted at a better time!
Goodluck! :)
Its mad how they all look like the craziest surfaces on earth from an aircraft... I see deserts and Star Wars landscapes.
You, my friend, is frickin underrated! And this is driving me nuts! 😭😭
This topic is so really covered on youtube. subbed
I’m guessing the funnest part of having an ATM is dreaming of things to place under it. This might be a silly question, but could you scan the surface tension of a liquid? Or, can you make several scan passes of a respiratory droplet over time as it evaporates or nucleation droplet condensing around a particle. I dunno, I just wanna throw junk underneath it and play all day. Thanks for another neat-o noodle scratcher.
Hmm, there are some very "soft" AFMs out there, and some that can work in liquid. I'm not sure if there are any that do both though. Mine is definitely not allowed to be used with liquids, it messes up the MEMs mechanism. But it's an interesting idea to think about! Would be neat to see the scan of a droplet :)
16:41
Its great that I can see the microscope in action. Not like I would see much but it would be cool to be able to se the microscope there.
There were a bunch of questions about this, so I posted some more of the microscope working in this video: ruclips.net/video/m0UK7LVSZ8g/видео.html Should have put more footage of the probe in action during this video, but didn't think of it at the time :)
Awesome video let’s find the smoothest material now !!!
Your demonstration macro-AFM machine is pretty neat!
And this nGauge AFM is really impressive, I really want to see some integrated circuits on it.
I was lucky enough to get to use one of these in my studies. Very cool stuff, we were able to see single atom thick features in graphite.
One word - Impressive!
What about using a stainless wire about, iunno, 24 or 32 gauge for the tip? If you're careful, you could probably weld or braise the wire to your cantilever. Stainless wire is easy to find and obtain; most local metal foundries can supply it and it's available online for cheap. If you're careful to keep the wire as straight as possible, you shouldn't have to worry too much about deformation.
You could also use a hypodermic needle with the end filed flat. That'd give you even more rigidity against banging the tip against the sample.
One of the old ways with STMs was cutting tungsten wire at an angle and pulling it apart while cutting to try and draw out an atomic point.
Love your channel im binge watching every video!
Great video mate! I really love the macro AFM. I would love to have one of those for lab tours but I have too many other hobbies 😅. Subbed!