Optical Spectroscopy For Atomic Force Microscopy

AFM OPTICAL PROBES FOR NANOMATERIALS
AND NANODEVICES RESEARCH

Welcome!

ACTOPROBE LLC designs, manufactures, and sells custom optical Spectroscopy/Microscopy Instruments and AFM Probes for conventional AFM to do single molecular spectroscopy of biomedical specimens and compound semiconductor material & devices. The company was founded in March 2009.

We provide you with an accessory to your existing AFM to do optical microscopy and spectroscopy on a single molecular level. Also, we offer you the most affordable AFM if you need one.

Currently Developing:

Needle_laser_nanospectroscopy

Latest News:

DOE SBIR PHASE IIA. On May 28, 2019, Actoprobe was awarded a $1,000,000 Department of Energy (DOE) Phase IIA SBIR grant to develop Ultrafast Active AFM Optical Probe (AAOP).

NEW MEXICO’s SBIR AWARD MATCHNIG GRANTOn December 2018 Actoprobe was awarded a $50,000 grant from The New Mexico Economic Development Department.

Products and Services

AFM Probes

Optical Adapters for AFM

Scanning Confocal Microscope developed for IPG Photonics Inc.

Analytical Services

Sample based surface imaging and analysis:

  • Mechanical Properties
  • Optical Properties
  • TERS

Applications

Testing Optoelectronic Materials and Nano-devices

  • FPA side wall characterization
  • Color filter arrays (CFA) and micro-lens Characterization for focal plane arrays
  • Cross-sectional characterization of strain layer superlattices (SLS)

Biophysics and Medical Research

  • Optical spectroscopy of a single virus and a single string of DNA
  • Tip-enhanced scanning probe Raman spectroscopy 
  • Optical nano-crystallography

Why Work with Us?

UNIQUE RESULTS

Information not available by other comparable techniques.

IMPROVED QUALITY

Improved optical resolution and signal-to-noise ratio.

Actoprobe Technology
Conventional Technology

SAVING TIME

Convenient measurement and time savings: self-alignment.

SAVING MONEY

No need to spend extra money on a far-field optical microscope.

Meet the Management Team

Alexander Ukhanov, CEO

Founder of Actoprobe. Over 30 years of experience working in the field of optoelectronics and microscopy.
LinkedIn

Olga Amosova, Senior Scientist

Expert in the Physical Chemistry of Biomolecules and Molecular Biology with more than 30 years of research experience, including 18 years with the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University.

Gennady Smolyakov, Senior Scientist

Expert in semiconductor lasers and FDTD simulation. Over 30 years of experience in the field of optoelectronics and microscopy

Publications

Novel near field active optical probe with ultra fast short pulses

Novel semiconductor-laser-integrated active AFM optical probe with ultrashort pulses and nanoscale aperture is demonstrated with 3.5 ps pulse width and 11.4 GHz repetition rate.

Novel semiconductor-laser-integrated active AFM optical probe with ultrashort pulses and nanoscale aperture

We have demonstrated a novel type of AFM probe – Ultra-Fast AFM Active Optical Probe (UFP AAOP) by monolithically integrating a mode-locked diode laser and AFM tip.

Tip-enhanced stimulated Raman scattering with ultra-high-aspectratio tips and confocal polarization Raman spectroscopy for evaluation of sidewalls in Type II superlattices FPAs

Actoprobe team had developed custom Tip Enhancement Raman Spectroscopy System (TERS) with specially developed Ultra High Aspect Ratio probes for AFM and TERS measurements for small pixel infrared FPA sidewall haracterization.

Confocal Raman Spectroscopy and AFM for Evaluation of Sidewalls in Type II Superlattice FPAs

We propose to utilize confocal Raman spectroscopy combined with high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) for nondestructive characterization of the sidewalls of etched and passivated small pixel focal plane arrays (FPA) fabricated using LW/LWIR InAs/GaSb type-II strained-layer superlattice (T2SL) detector material.

Patents

Utility Patent: Monolithic AFM Active Optical Probe US11016119B1

A new monolithic Atomic Force Microscopy ( AFM ) active optical probe monolithically integrates a base of the probe, a cantilever, a semiconductor laser source, an AFM tip, and a photodetector into a robust, easy-to-use single semiconductor chip to enable AFM measurements, optical imaging, and optical spectroscopy at the nanoscale.

Utility Patent: VCSEL based AFM Active Optical Probe US10663485B1

A new resonant-cavity-enhanced Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) active optical probe integrates a semiconductor laser source and an aperture AFM/near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) probe in either external-resonant-cavity or internal-resonant-cavity configuration to enable both conventional AFM measurements and optical imaging and spectroscopy at the nanoscale.

Utility Patent: Edge emitting diode laser based AFM Active Optical Probe US9482691B1

A new active optical Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) probe integrating monolithically a semiconductor laser source, an AFM tip, and a photodetector into a robust, easy-to use single semiconductor chip to enable both conventional AFM measurements and optical imaging and spectroscopy at the nanoscale.

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