1st Student's Major
Integrated Engineering
1st Student's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Students' Professional Biography
Michael Ganzer is an engineer and recent graduate from the Twin Cities Engineering program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. His future goals are to continue to grow and develop as an engineer. Tien Pham is a current engineering student in the Twin Cities Engineering program.
Mentor's Name
Robert Sleezer
Mentor's Email Address
robert.sleezer@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Integrated Engineering
Mentor's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Abstract
The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is an important instrument in nanoscale topography, but it is expensive and slow. The authors designed an AFM to overcome both limitations. To do this, they used an Optical Pickup Unit (OPU) from a DVD player as the laser and photodetector system to minimize cost and they did not implement a vertical control loop, which maximized potential speed. Students will be able to be use this device to make nanoscale measurements and engage in micro-engineering. To prototype this idea, the authors tested an OPU with a silicon wafer and demonstrated the ability to consistently distinguish different distances based on the OPU output. Additional testing was done in order to measure the sensitivity of the OPU using a more robust signal conditioning system. The result of their work is that the system they designed has a resolution of 65 nm on static samples and 1 μm on dynamic samples. Further work is needed to improve the resolution of this system, reduce noise, calibrate the system, and minimize drift.
Recommended Citation
Ganzer, Michael and Pham, Tien
(2017)
"Design and Validation of a Low Cost High Speed Atomic Force Microscope,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 17, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1206
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol17/iss1/7
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Electrical and Electronics Commons, Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons, Signal Processing Commons
Additional Authors
Tien Pham
Major = Integrated Engineering
College = Science, Engineering, and Technology