Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: ORNL and Asylum Research Receive Microscopy Today Innovation Award for New Electrochemical Strain Microscopy SPM Technique for Energy Storage Research

Home > Press > ORNL and Asylum Research Receive Microscopy Today Innovation Award for New Electrochemical Strain Microscopy SPM Technique for Energy Storage Research

Nina Balke added, “This is the first time we can actually see phenomena in batteries well below the100 nanometer level, observing their charging and degradation on the level of single structural defects.” Concluded Stephen Jesse, the mastermind behind the development of ESM, “ESM offers an example of a multidimensional SPM technique that provides a new and decisive step towards understanding the nanoscale world of ionic systems.”

Abstract:
Asylum Research, the technology leader in Scanning Probe and Atomic Force microscopy, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have just received the prestigious Microscopy Today Innovation (MT-10) Award for the development of Electrochemical Strain Microscopy (ESM). ESM is an innovative new scanning probe microscopy (SPM) technique implemented on Asylum's Cypher™ and MFP-3D™ AFMs that is capable of probing electrochemical reactivity and ionic flows in solids on the sub-ten-nanometer level. ESM is the first technique that measures ionic currents directly, providing a new tool for mapping electrochemical phenomena on the nanoscale. The capability to probe electrochemical processes and ionic transport in solids is invaluable for a broad range of applications for energy generation and storage ranging from batteries to fuel cells. ESM has the potential to aid in these advances with two major improvements over conventional technologies: (a) the resolution to probe nanometer-scale volumes and (b) the inherent ability to decouple ionic from electronic currents with imaging capability extended to a broad range of spectroscopy techniques reminiscent of conventional electrochemical tools.

ORNL and Asylum Research Receive Microscopy Today Innovation Award for New Electrochemical Strain Microscopy SPM Technique for Energy Storage Research

Santa Barbara, CA | Posted on August 18th, 2011

"We're extremely excited to have won this prestigious award," said Roger Proksch, President of Asylum Research. "Our collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has put forth many new cutting-edge developments in the field of SPM, including Piezoresponse Force Microscopy, Switching Spectroscopy PFM, and Band Excitation. Asylum Research and our collaborators continue to lead the industry with technical innovation as confirmed by this award."

Commented Sergei Kalinin, senior research staff member at the ORNL Center for Nanophase Materials Science, "Ionic phenomena in solids directly underpin multiple energy technologies ranging from batteries to fuel cells, as well as emergent electroresistive and memristive memories. Furthermore, very often they can contribute to observed physical phenomena in correlated oxides. Electrochemical Strain Microscopy provides the pathway to study the kinetics and thermodynamics of electrochemical processes in solids on the nanoscale, opening a window in these poorly explored aspects of materials functionality".

Nina Balke added, "This is the first time we can actually see phenomena in batteries well below the100 nanometer level, observing their charging and degradation on the level of single structural defects."

Concluded Stephen Jesse, the mastermind behind the development of ESM, "ESM offers an example of a multidimensional SPM technique that provides a new and decisive step towards understanding the nanoscale world of ionic systems."

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About Asylum Research
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http://www.asylumresearch.com/References/Testimonials.shtml
Asylum Research is the technology leader in atomic force and scanning probe microscopy (AFM/SPM) for both materials and bioscience applications. Founded in 1999, we are an employee owned company dedicated to innovative instrumentation for nanoscience and nanotechnology, with over 300 years combined AFM/SPM experience among our staff. Our instruments are used for a variety of nanoscience applications in material science, physics, polymers, chemistry, biomaterials, and bioscience, including single molecule mechanical experiments on DNA, protein unfolding and polymer elasticity, as well as force measurements for biomaterials, chemical sensing, polymers, colloidal forces, adhesion, and more. Asylum’s product line offers imaging and measurement capabilities for a wide range of samples, including advanced techniques such as electrical characterization (CAFM, KFM, EFM), high voltage piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), thermal analysis, quantitative nanoindenting, and a wide range of environmental accessories and application-ready modules.
Asylum’s MFP-3D set the standard for AFM technology, with unprecedented precision and flexibility. The MFP-3D is the first AFM with true independent piezo positioning in all three axes, combined with low noise closed-loop feedback sensor technology. The MFP-3D offers both top and bottom sample viewing and easy integration with most commercially-available inverted optical microscopes.
Asylum’s new Cypher AFM is the world’s first new small sample AFM/SPM in over a decade, and sets the new standard as the world’s highest resolution AFM. Cypher provides low-drift closed loop atomic resolution for the most accurate images and measurements possible today, >20X faster AC imaging with small cantilevers, Spot-On™ automated laser and photodetector alignment for easy setup, integrated thermal, acoustic and vibration control, and broad support for all major AFM/SPM scanning modes and capabilities.
Asylum Research offers the lowest cost of ownership of any AFM company. Ask us about our industry-best 2-year warranty, our legendary product and applications support, and our exclusive 6-month money-back satisfaction guarantee. We are dedicated to providing the most technically advanced AFMs for researchers who want to take their experiments to the next level. Asylum Research also distributes third party cantilevers from Olympus, Nanoworld/Nanosensors, and our own MFM and iDrive™ tips.

About Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the Department of Energy's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL has a staff of more than 4,800 and annually hosts approximately 3,000 guest researchers who spend two weeks or longer in Oak Ridge. As an international leader in a range of scientific areas that support the Department of Energy's mission, ORNL has six major mission roles: neutron science, energy, high-performance computing, systems biology, materials science at the nanoscale, and national security. ORNL's leadership role in the nation's energy future includes hosting the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences - one of the five Department of Energy Nanoscale Science Research Centers, which serve as user facilities for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale supported by the DOE Office of Science.

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