The Cypher ES AFM from Oxford Instruments Asylum Research enhances the basic model’s ultra-high resolution and quick scanning with an especially well-implemented environmental control. Building on the modularity of the Cypher AFM platform, the Cypher ES scanner features a fully-sealed gas-tight and liquid-tight sample cell that is the foundation of environmental control options including humidity control, heating, cooling and an electrochemical cell.
Due to its superior environmental control capabilities, the Cypher ES is the ideal AFM for research on polymers, graphene and other 2D materials, photovoltaic materials, batteries, biomolecules, and biomembranes.
Uniquely well-implemented environmental control capabilities
The only atomic force microscope with a completely sealed, pressure-tight sample compartment is the Cypher ES. It was built from the bottom up to provide superior environmental control. All Cypher ES environmental control features are built on this ground-breaking concept, resulting in environmental management that is both more effective and user-friendly than that of competing AFMs.
It is vital that the cell can be completely sealed, regardless of whether one is heating or freezing the sample, managing the humidity, working in a dry or inert atmosphere, or utilizing an electrochemical cell. Only then can one be sure that the environment is steady and under control, that the sample is safeguarded, and that the AFM is leak-free.
Additionally, Cypher ES is specifically made to handle imaging in environments with sub-ppm water and oxygen found in a glovebox as well as the harshest chemically hostile solvents and solutions.
Fast scanning captures nanoscale dynamic processes
Each and every part of the Cypher ES is also built to allow quick scanning. Conventional AFMs, which make up the great majority of AFMs on the market today, scan pictures at a rate of only 1–2 lines per second, necessitating a lengthy acquisition process for each image. However, rapid scanning AFMs like the Cypher ES can image 10–20× quicker, allowing for the acquisition of pictures in just a few seconds.
In experimental systems including polymer temperature transitions, in operando battery studies, and etch and dissolution processes, the Cypher ES can view nanoscale dynamic phenomena. The Cypher ES is easily upgraded to the Cypher VRS1250, which offers scan rates up to 1250 lines/second and real video-rate AFM movies at up to 45 frames/second, for the best in high-speed AFM imaging.
Easily and routinely obtain higher spatial resolution
To achieve extremely high spatial resolution, the Cypher ES was built from the ground up. As a result of its mechanical stability, it is frequently utilized without any extra vibration isolation. The “mechanical loop,” which connects the sample to the AFM cantilever, is enclosed in the scanner, making it short, rigid, and almost impervious to external sources of vibration and acoustic noise.
This is unlike other AFMs. On most AFMs, reaching an atomic and molecular resolution is a “hero experiment,” however on the Cypher ES, these findings may be simply and regularly accomplished in any lab on any day. Amazingly, even in a glovebox’s high-noise and high-vibration environment, the Cypher ES retains its ultra-high resolution capability.
Simpler environmental control opens new research potential
Additionally, the Cypher ES is incredibly practical and simple to use. It can be positioned practically anywhere in the lab thanks to its tiny footprint and great noise immunity. The AFM program can completely regulate the environmental control choices, which may be switched out fast without the need for additional wires, tubing, or control boxes.
As a result, environmental control studies are easier to set up and run, which ultimately expands research opportunities and speeds the creation of new sophisticated materials. The Cypher ES is a fantastic solution for both big multidisciplinary research groups and shared multi-user imaging facilities because of its flexibility to quickly swap between environmental control choices.