NanoWorld AG is proud to announce that it has been able to secure the services of Dr. Terunobu Akiyama as Key Account Manager A-Probe. Dr. Akiyama is the inventor of this new self-sensing and self-actuating tuning fork probe.
This product has been developed in cooperation with the Institute of Microtechnology (IMT) at the University of Neuchâtel for the NANOSENSORS™ brand that is specialized on cutting edge scanning probes for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) applications. The novel product is called the Akiyama-probe or A-probe to honour its inventor. It is a novel self-sensing and – actuating probe based on a quartz tuning fork combined with a micromachined cantilever for dynamic mode AFM.
It features a symmetrical arrangement of a U-shaped silicon cantilever attached to the two prongs of a quartz tuning fork. The tuning fork serves as an oscillatory force sensor that governs the tip vibration frequency as well as the amplitude and ensures a high mechanical Q-factor. The force constant of the probe is determined by the cantilever and can be adjusted independently from the resonance frequency.
Dr. Akiyama serves as key account manager for the market introduction of this innovative product. In his capacity as key account manager A-probe Dr. Akiyama will be in charge of communication and cooperation with all AFM manufacturers who are working on the development of a scanning probe microscope using this novel probe concept as well as being responsible for the further development of this new product.
He received his Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan. During his time at the Institute of Industrial Science at the University of Tokyo, Japan, Dr. Akiyama received a Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Young Scientists from the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science. Since 1995 Dr. Akiyama is conducting his research at the IMT at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
During his scientific career Dr. Akiyama has published a variety of papers in renowned international journals in the field of Scanning Probe Microscopy. His research interests include microactuators, microsensors and microsystems. The Scratch Drive Actuator (SDA), one of the well-known standard electrostatic actuators based on MEMS technology, is also one of his inventions.
While Dr. Akiyama will maintain his position at the IMT and continue his research there he will devote 50% of his time to the market introduction of his invention, the self-sensing and -actuating tuning fork probe called A-probe in the future.