Building a Scanning Tunneling Microscope - Noise Isolating the Sample #1
Details
In Person Location: Rockville Library, second floor meeting room (Meeting Room 4).
We are experimenting with a new virtual join link - https://meet.jit.si/mocomakers
If you can make it in person, that's always recommended!
We have demonstrated equivalent ideal condition data readings of 1e^-11 which matches our reference project! Now we need the sample prep and environment to match that, which currently has atmospheric noise that moves us to 1e^-10 (less noise here is better). This is a huge improvement over past versions of the preamp. Let’s see what it takes to get out sample to this level.
Our community is building (and documenting for other teams) how to build a scanning tunneling microscope using a mix of common and 3D printed parts. This will allow us to scan and visualize a single atom - an ambitious we are doing over the course of a few months.
The MoCo Makers community is one of the most innovative and competent groups in Maryland, and we've done everything from publishing cancer research, to launching products, winning grants, and inspiring thousands.
Now our biggest challenge yet has appeared. We are building a Scanning Tunneling Microscope, that will allow us to scan and visualize single atoms.
Does it sound hard? Perhaps.. However! I have every confidence that we are now operating at a level were we can take on this mean, cross-functional project. We continue to build on our past successes, and a key technology we previously applied was increasing the signal of small voltages using OpAmps - which we did during our custom pH Probe project - https://www.mocomakers.com/ph-probe/ - That technology is exactly what we need to get this machine working, and at a high precision!
To get a better idea of what we are doing, see our reference project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N3OqTEq08g
All starting CAD, code, and reference files should exist. However, let's be the first Maker community to document the build process and share it with learners around the world.
We have a bit over $2,000 in materials costs, so if you want to sponsor this project, and get banners at events with 20K attendees, and access to our email broadcast of 30K members, please contact matt@mocomakers.com
We are also open to university, lab, or community partnerships so feel to reach out if you want to be part of this project.
Together, we can do incredible things.
In Person Location: Rockville Library, second floor meeting room (Meeting Room 4).
To Join Virtually: https://meet.jit.si/mocomakers