News & Events

Santa Barbara, CA, June 28, 2001 — Digital Instruments, Veeco Metrology Group announces the new Fluid Sample Heater accessory for its BioScope™ Scanning Probe Microscopes (SPMs). Designed specifically for biological applications, this new Fluid Heater allows in-situ temperature control of samples from ambient to 60°C and can be used with any scanning technique (TappingMode™, Contact Mode, PhaseImaging™, force measurements, etc.) for imaging in liquid. As one of a series of environmental accessories for Digital Instruments SPMs in cell biology, this new accessory provides nominal temperature stability of ±0.5°C at the user-specified set-point with a <2°C (1°C, typical) temperature gradient from the center to the edge of the AFM/optical viewing area at 37°C.

In addition, this new heater overcomes the limitation of temperature sensitivity of cells by prolonging the lifespan for monitoring dynamic cell responses, and augments SPM's high-resolution imaging capability for monitoring the effect of pharmaceutical agents on cell cultures, as well as for studying mechanical properties of cells by measuring nanoscale forces. Other applications include studying enzyme activity kinetics, imaging lipid phase transitions in Langmuir-Blodgett films and protein conformations. And, the fluid heater can be used for BioScope systems using Zeiss, Nikon, or Olympus inverted optical microscopes.

Veeco Instruments, Inc. is a worldwide leader in process equipment and metrology tools for the optical telecommunications, data storage, semiconductor and research markets. Manufacturing and engineering facilities are located in New York, California, Colorado, Arizona and Minnesota. Global sales and service offices are located throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific. Additional information on Veeco can be found at www.veeco.com.