Nanoscale Imaging Has Never Been Easier

Collect nanoscale topography data on your benchtop in three clicks with the nGauge AFM.

ICSPI has integrated all of the components of a traditional AFM onto a single 1 mm x 1 mm chip to create the world’s first single-chip AFM. That means that 250 AFMs can fit on the face of a penny.

The nGauge AFM uses micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) to control the X, Y and Z position of the tip. This means that no alignment of lasers is required.

The nGauge is the smallest AFM in the world. Because the entire unit weighs less than 500 grams, the nGauge rejects building vibrations, so no vibration isolation table is needed, which makes the nGauge a true benchtop AFM.

 

What can I use AFM for?

AFM provides topographical data of a surface. That means that you can look at the shape and size of individual features, such as the pits on a DVD, or look at the particle density, such as the number of nanoparticles in an area.

The nGauge AFM can be used to investigate surfaces where the features are up to 10 µm tall. It’s tricky to pinpoint a lower limit, but the RMS noise in the vertical (z) direction of the nGauge is 1 nanometre (nm). So, depending on your requirements, features as small as 5–10 nm can be imaged with the nGauge with acceptable accuracy.

To put what a nanometer is into perspective, a quarter (25-cent coin) is about 2 cm wide. An E. coli bacterium cell is 2 µm wide (10,000× smaller than a quarter). And the diameter of a DNA helix is 2 nm (1,000× smaller than a bacterium).

As an alternative to our Bottle Caps try our Bottle Cap Plugs in the extra hole. The 20µm stainless frit in these plugs prevents foreign matter from contaminating the solvent while leaving the bottle open to the atmosphere. This allows fluid to be pulled out without creating a vacuum (generally not used with sparging applications).

Our Bottle Caps offer ease of use and are economical. We provide three holes in each cap insert that have no stops. With two of the holes, you simply push your tubing through. The third hole accepts any male luer or our A-626 tapered plug (except the A-610 and A-610B). The A-610 and A-610B bottle caps have a 3/16″ third hole configuration for use with a Waters® system. If needed, this hole takes an A-628 plug.

Guard columns offer a user friendly, compact design for easy integration. Iso-Prep™ is a guard cartridge system designed to protect valuable prep columns. Column Saver Precolumn Filters offers a biocompatible and economical way to add a filter to your system. Packing Adapters are available for connecting hardware to high pressure column packing reservoirs. We also offer a variety of tools to assist with your column usage.

We have a wide range of offerings to cover the global fluidics market with each system having unique features to meet your system requirements. Bio-Safe™ systems are made of virgin PEEK material and offer metal-free biocompatible option for inert applications. Modular systems offer a threaded tube and a unique frit cap design. Our Iso-Bar system has an all metal design applicable for UHPLC. These column systems provide many benefits to customers looking to optimize their fluidic instruments.

Compression Hardware relies on the ferrule to swage or attach to the tubing to maintain the high pressure seal. The Compression Hardware Column Components include tubes, frits and compression style end fittings for optimal performance in LC applications. Our LC Column tubes are made from stainless steel and offer excellent chemical resistance. Our frits are designed to match the inner diameter of the tube and are available in standard stainless steel with some titanium and PEEK options as well. End Fittings are available in multiple port geometries and is manufactured from stainless steel to match the tube and acts to secure the frit and connect to the tubing.

Many applications require biocompatible hardware. To meet this growing demand we have developed a unique line of connectors. This product family includes column couplers. Our guard column connectors include different styles that deliver low swept volume and help maintain column efficiency.

We offer wide selection of pre-packed, cartridge style guard columns in addition to pack-it-yourself hardware. There are options for micro flow applications as well as analytical-scale applications. These guard columns can be immediately implemented into a system for your convenience.

Our Guard Hardware portfolio offers a variety of guard cartridges and holders to meet your system requirements. These include guards, guard holders, analytical cartridges, and tools designed to protect your system’s valuable columns and help ensure high performance and excellent retention time.

Our Sample Trap Columns are optimized for protein and peptide separation/purification. We offer these columns in conductive and nonconductive, packed and unpacked versions. They are ideal for separating and concentrating and/or purifying biological samples for mass spectrometer. The heart of the Sample Trap is a fused silica capillary column. Available phases for our capillary columns include a Reversed-Phase, High Carbon Load C18 5µm/300Å Spherical Silica material and a SCX (Strong Cation Exchange) 5µm/85Å material.

Our LiteTouch Fittings are specifically designed to effectively grip tubing at two compression points, holding to high pressures with Fingertight convenience. It also prevents polymer tubing from twisting, a potential problem when using standard Fingertight fittings. LiteTouch Fittings are available for use with 1/32 inches, 1/16 inches, or 1/8 inches outer diameter tubing sizes, and for 10-32 or 1/4-28 coned ports. To avoid collapsing the inner diameter of your tubing, the LiteTouch system can be used on hard tubing only, such as stainless steel and PEEK polymer tubing. The LiteTouch Ferrule System is not recommended for repeated use in plastic ports.

MicroTight One-Piece Fittings are uniquely designed for use with the NanoPort™ and MicroTight Unions, Adapters and Inline MicroFilters. Specifically made for 360 μm outer diameter tubing, 1/32 inches outer diameter tubing, or our MicroTight Tubing Sleeves these fittings ensure superior fingertight connections with capillary tubing. MicroTight Fittings withstand temperatures up to 125 °C. The MicroTight family also includes a female nut matched with one of five dedicated ferrules for connecting specific tubing outer diameters.

NanoTight Fittings are specifically designed to connect 70 μm–1 mm OD capillary tubing to any standard 10-32 coned port normally intended for 1/16 inches outer diameter tubing using the NanoTight Tubing Sleeves. The fittings can also be used to connect any 1/16 inches outer diameter tubing. The Tefzel ®(TEFZEL® (ETFE)) ferrule material is softer than PEEK, making it a good candidate for connecting thin walled semi-rigid tubing such as Dupont® FEP and Tefzel ®(TEFZEL®) into 10-32 ports with minimal constricting to the inner diameter.

Our original One-Piece Fingertight Fittings offer the convenience of making a tubing connection without the need for wrenches or specialized tools when tightening the fitting into place. It is ideal for HPLC applications. Simply use your fingers to tighten the fitting into the receiving port! Our easy to use fittings are designed so that the ferrule will not stick in a receiving port and the fitting is more easily found if dropped. The fittings for 1/16 inches outer diameter tubing and 10-32 coned ports are available in a variety of colors, materials and lengths to suit virtually every application.