Students Build Atomic Force Microscope from LEGO

 Microscopy  

The world’s first low-cost Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has been developed by multinational teams of students in Beijing using LEGO as the machine's building blocks.

F
irst introduced into commercial markets back in 1989, Atomic Force Microscopes (AFMs) were rather pricy, ranging from $10,000 all the way up to $1,000,0000, according to which features and capabilities a machine might include.

But now, students created a microscope capable of imaging a single atom out of LEGO Mindstorms, 3D printed parts and other off-the shelf components.

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During the LEGO2NANO project at Tsinghua University in Beijing, a group of Chinese and English students made a Lego-based AFM in five days – and at a cost of less than $500.

You might even call this an example of Moore's Law of Microscopy.

Professor Gabriel Aeppli, director of the London Centre for Nanotechnology at University College London, said: “Low-cost scientific instrumentation is not just useful in high schools, it can be a huge enabler for hospitals and clinics in developing countries. That’s why novel initiatives like LEGO2NANO are so important.”

LEGO2NANO, the third in a series of China-UK Summer Schools held at Tsinghua University, put teams to work designing a version of the atomic force microscope which will ultimately be used by Chinese high school students.

The students hit the mark with the winning team taking just five days to finish a microscope capable of producing a scanned image – in nanoscale detail – on a sample surface.

Mounted on a metal plate for stability, the inexpensive AFM features housings and compartments built from LEGO blocks and 3D printed parts. The student's ARM scanning stage was 3D printed and based on a design created by researchers at Bristol University.

Motion is controlled by piezoelectric actuators using Arduino processors. The stage moves one micron for each 10 volts applied. These tiny movements give the ARM a resolution of little more than a few nanometers.

The Institute of Making at UCL and the Open Wisdom Laboratory at Tsinghua University plan to continue to host student sessions aimed at developing the concept. Next target: building a fully-functioning AFM for $100.

SOURCE  Lego2Nano

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