Asylum Research, a specialist in scanning probe and atomic force microscopy (SPM/AFM), has unveiled the Ztherm modulated local thermal analysis option for its MFP-3D and Cypher AFMs.
Ztherm provides highly localised heating with sensitivity to = 10-22-litre (sub-zeptoliter) material property changes - an improvement in volume over that previously available with commercial systems.
A standing problem with existing AFM-based thermal-analysis systems is the thermally induced bending of the cantilever, which results in spurious deflection signals and variable loads being applied during heating.
Asylum has developed a patent-pending cantilever compensation and control solution that corrects this problem, providing the constant-load detection of thermally induced melting (Tm), phase transitions (Tg) and other morphological and compliance effects for material studies and material identification - for areas less than 20nm x 20nm.
In addition to standard thermal-analysis capabilities, the Ztherm package can also be used to evaluate contact stiffness and dissipation as a function of temperature with advanced techniques such dual AC resonance tracking (DART).
The contact stiffness and dissipation - measured at the cantilever resonance - are much more sensitive to temperature-dependent properties, including surface melting and transition temperatures, than conventional deflection-based measurements.
In addition, integrated piezo actuation allows the high-resolution AC imaging of samples for surface topographical mapping before and after thermal measurements.
The Ztherm option is compatible with and includes Anasys Thermalever probes.
Dr Roger Proksch, Asylum research president, said: 'With the ability to be used in combination with our new DART technique, we believe Ztherm will enhance existing research avenues and open up new directions for the analysis of thermal effects and material identification on scales previously impossible.'
