Manifestations d'intention > Projet AFM4aStory

Since, Feynman’s famous lecture in 1960 titled “There is Plenty of Room at the Bottom” researchers from a vast number of fields have been thinking small. The first Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) in 1986 aided researchers in this quest by imaging both conductive and insulating materials at the nano-scale. Today’s AFM applications span scientific [1], historical [2], biological [3] and engineering [4] endeavors. The IMAFMP platform (Interdisciplinary Multiscale Atomic Force Microscope Platform - funded via équipement mi-lourd 2011: C’Nano and ISC – IDF) welcomes researchers from across the full spectrum of sciences. The principal investigator and manager of the platform, Cindy L. Rountree, along with some of the 12 IMAFMP partners have had the privilege to work with several projects close in lines with DIM-MAP objectives. First, the IMAFMP enables S. CHARBONNIER and D. GASPARD from Centre de Recherches sur la Paléobiodiversité & les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), Sorbonne Universités, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle to understand the hierarchical architecture of the inner layers of some rhnychonelliform brachiopods via the state of the art Nano-Mechanical AFM. Secondly, the IMAFMP welcomed researchers, project spearheaded by L. TORTECH from Sorbonne Universités, in their search to understand the corrosion layer growth in a Roman nail. Preliminary tests concerning both projects show the benefits of the IMAFMP platform to historical artifacts and fossils. Additionally, both projects would greatly benefit from the upgrade proposed in AFM4aStory.

AFM4aStory will make use of the premier Interdisciplinary Multiscale Atomic Force Microscope Platform (IMAFMP) located at the SPEC - UMR 3680 CEA-CNRS laboratory. This AFM permits simultaneous cartographies of nanoscale topographic, mechanical, chemical, and electrical properties via Peak Force technology (click here for a possible solution). Concerning KPFM, our current system can capture the surface potential and the surface topography in a double pass. However, there is new technology, coined PeakForce KPFM, which could greatly enhance our measurements by first providing the surface potential and the surface topography in a single pass, but also by providing the mechanical properties of the surface during that very same pass. To achieve this full enhancement of the IMAFMP, we are required to do a double upgrade on the system. First, the IMAFMP collaborators must upgrade the main controllers to Windows 7, and then IMAFMP must purchase the PeakForce KPFM toolbox. The total cost of the upgrade is about 37k€. Thus, we are requesting 65.99 % of the total upgrade cost from the DIM-MAP equipment call to fund this upgrade. The other 34.01 % will come from the dedicated operational cost funding of the AFM.

IMAFMP is an open access platform for Atomic Force Microscopes users in Ile-de-France. 20% of IMAFMP’s operating time is dedicated to all researchers in Ile-de-France. Users incur a minimal access fee, which provides them with access to the IMAFMP for a day and a limited number of AFM tips per day. For short-term access, researchers are paired with a knowledgeable IMAFMP partner. For long-term access, researchers are required to submit paperwork and undergo training on the IMAFMP.