Kirsten Bonson,
an undergraduate student at the University of Vermont (UVM), has
designed an atomic force microscope under the guidance of professor
Randall Headrick. This inexpensive microscopy, similar to its
much more expensive cousins used in research and development, uses a
highly sensitive force sensor to image materials surfaces at the
atomic scale. The microscope is now used in the laboratory
session of a recently developed nanoscience class taken by UVM
freshmen.
The
design and results of the project were presented at the fall 2005
joint meeting of the New-England Sections of the American Physical
Society and American Association of Physics Teachers, held in
Burlington, VT.
