Displacement Sensors Offer Nanometre Resolution
A supplier of nano-positioning systems for atomic force microscopy (AFM) is using non-contact capacitive displacement sensors from Micro-Epsilon to measure the travel distance of test items. Based in Munich, Attocube Systems specialises in the development, manufacture and distribution of nano-positioning systems. Founded in 2001, the company is a spin-off from the Center for Nanoscience in Munich, Germany. The company's core competence is in ultra-high precision spatial positioning of objects - a prerequisite for most nanotechnology applications. Attocube's technology enables the positioning and scanning of objects with atomic resolution, but with travel distances in the centimetre range. Attocube has developed systems for a variety of extreme environments, including UHV applications, low temperatures and high magnetic fields. Atomic force microscopes are used to image, measure and manipulate matter at the nano scale. The information is gathered by 'feeling' the su...