Outstanding performance in your nano-FTIR, s-SNOM, AFM-IR and Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy measurements
HIGH RESOLUTION PROBES FOR NANO IR AND TERS
NANOSPECTROSCOPY TIPS MORPHOLOGY
Next-Tip Ltd. has patented a new morphology of the metallic coating on an AFM probe.
Our nanofabrication process is based on the deposition of nanoparticles to create nanostructures.
The control of the deposition of these nanoparticles creates on the tip a new morphology different from those found in the literature. This morphology is characterized by the following features:
Apex features
Widening at the apex
The apex of our tips is an irregular nanostructure formed by an aggregate of gold nanoparticles with a shape similar to an ‘artichoke’. This morphology provides enough metal to enhance the LSPR effect.
Very sharp tip apex
The nanostructure formed at the apex, terminated by one nanoparticle, gives extremely high sharpness to the probe (up to 3nm). This nanoparticle provides high lateral resolution and increases the lightning rod effect.
Morphology of the coating
The dense coating of nanoparticles creates branch-like structures along the tip surface incresing its roughness. This heterogeneity of the coating acts as an effective plasmonic antenna to receive and transmit light at the nanoscale.
We have control over the coating in terms of:
- The material composition (Au, Ag, etc.)
- The size and density of nanoparticles
- The material aggregation at the apex and tip sides:
- Size of the artichoke
- The length and thickness of the nanobranches
This allows for increasing the spectroscopic signal (fostering antenna effects, spatial resolution, SNR and sensitivity), to enable cutting-edge experiments
We can perform our coating with reproducibility on different kind of probes: tip’s shape, spring constants, etc.
Elephant trunk
Pyramid
OPUS
Arrow
