Equipment

More information about the equipment used by the research groups NanoBioInterface and NanoPhysicsInterface can be found on this page.

The Atomic Force microscope is a tool to study many properties on the nanometer and micrometer scale. Possible properties that can be studied: topography, roughness, magnetic properties, elastic properties, adhesion, etc. Furthermore very small forces can be measured as well.

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Home-built instrument used for the measurement of the contact angle at the interface between a fluid and solid material. It deposits a small droplet of fluid on a hard surface, the volume of this droplet is controlled by a syringe pump. Images of the droplet dynamics captured by a microscope camera are then used to determine receding and advancing droplet parameters, allowing the user to calculate the Young contact angle and hysteresis.

The CoolTool milling machine can mill plastics and other soft material by using a constant rotational speed. The CoolTool milling machine can be operated both manually and by computer, which allows faster and more complex machining.
The CoolTool milling machine can machine with a shaft diameter of up to 6mm.

This machine in primarily is used by 3rd year nanotechnology students for their practicum.

Hot embossing is used to create topographical patterns is polymeric material using controlled heat and pressure.

Main purpose: Identifying the chemical formula of different substances in a test sample.

  • Mass accuracy : 1.5mDa or 4 ppm (r.m.s.)
  • Mass Resolution : R ≥ 8000 (m/z 617)
  • Sensitivity : S/N ≥ 100 (OFN 1pg)
  • Data recording speed : Up to 50 spectra/s
  • Mass range : m/z 4 ~ 5000
  • Ionization modes : EI (+/-), CI (+/-), FI, FD, DEI (+/-), DCI (+/-)
  • Sample inlets : GC, DEP (direct exposure probe), DIP (direct insertion probe)
  • FD probe, LIFDI probe (by Linden CMS)

Typical application: Drug detection, fire investigation, environmental analysis, explosives investigation and identification of unknown samples.

Specimen: Liquid

General information:

Main purpose: Identifying the chemical formula of different substances in a test sample.

  • Mass accuracy : 1.5mDa or 4 ppm (r.m.s.)
  • Mass Resolution : R ≥ 8000 (m/z 617)
  • Sensitivity : S/N ≥ 100 (OFN 1pg)
  • Data recording speed : Up to 50 spectra/s
  • Mass range : m/z 4 ~ 5000
  • Ionization modes : EI (+/-), CI (+/-), FI, FD, DEI (+/-), DCI (+/-)
  • Sample inlets : GC, DEP (direct exposure probe), DIP (direct insertion probe)
  • FD probe, LIFDI probe (by Linden CMS)

Typical application: Drug detection, fire investigation, environmental analysis, explosives investigation and identification of unknown samples.

Specimen: Liquid

General information:

The Labtrix® Start from Chemtrix is a manual, low cost, standardised ‘plug-and-play’ platform for laboratory based optimisation of reactions within glass micro reactors. It can be used at temperatures ranging from -20 °C to 195 °C and under pressures of up to 25 bar.

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A microchip developed by Lionix in which microfluidics and integrated optics are combined. It can be used for online absorption spectroscopy of nl or pl fluid volumes. An example is the direct spectroscopy analysis of the output of the labtrix start micro reactor system resulting in improved time to optimization or direct process monitoring.

Together with the Hyperion multicolor laser system, wavelengths between 445 to 680 nm are simultaneously available for spectroscopy.

General information:

In addition to the CoolTool milling machine used for the practicum of nanotechnology students, the Proxxon drill and mill is a more professional tool. Where the CoolTool milling machine is only used to mill plastic (PVC), the Proxxon tool can also drill and mill metals.

The Proxxon tool has a power supply which allows adjustment of the rotationspeed. The drill head allows drills with a diameter of up to 10.0 mm as where the mills can have a shaft diameter of up to 6.0 mm.

Benchtop 45 MHz NMR spectrometer.  Liquid samples are simply injected into an internal capillary via front-panel fittings and only 20 microliters of sample fluid is needed to obtain a spectrum.

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A Raman microscope is a special microscope, used to detect the composition of a sample and to check the existence of a particular layer on a chip. The composition can be studied in different positions. A light, usually a laser, is shone on the sample and depending on the material, different colours become visible. In many Raman microscopes this laser has a specific colour (wavelength), however the microscope at Saxion  has two lasers. Thanks to this, the researchers can switch to another laser when necessary to achieve better results. Hybriscan, the supplier, has customized the microscope for Saxion in such a way that the mode of operation can be explained to students; the device can be opened and the various components are visible.

Description Spincoater POLOS SPIN 150

Spincoating is a technique that is used for the fabrication of (nanometric) polymer thin films (PDMS, blockcopolymers, etc.).

Category

Materials preparation, coating, drying, rinsing, cleaning.

Function

Spincoating of (thin) flat layers on substrates.

Main characteristics

POLOS Single Substrate Spin Processor, Programmable digital process controller:

  • Storage of 50 programs with 99 steps per program
  • Speed 1-10.000 rpm
  • Dimensions: 275 (w) x 240 (d) x 450 (h) mm

More information/link

The Integrated Multi-Color Laser Source from Xio Photonics provides up to 8 standard wavelengths in a single and compact unit. The Hyperion combines the wavelengths into a single-mode polarization maintaining output fiber with use of an integrated laser beam combiner.

Available wavelengths:

  • Hyperion 1) 488, 532, 640 nm
  • Hyperion 2) 405, 445, 488, 532, 640, 680 nm

General information: