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Frequently Asked Questions
Brief explanations for some of the questions that users may have about Imago's company information or product offerings.
 
What is a Local Electrode Atom Probe?
 
Why is the LEAP® needed?
 
What is nanotechnology?
 
What does "nano" mean?
 
 
 
What is a Local Electrode Atom Probe?
See this page.
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Why is the LEAP® needed?
In order to make anything, it is critical to be able to see what is being made. This applies to threading a needle as well as to making semiconductor chips. If you can’t see what you are doing, it may still be possible to get the job done. However, the job (threading a needle or making a chip) will likely take longer and cost more than if you could see. So microscopes are the eyes of science and technology. In fact, the length scale of human understanding and technology throughout the ages has been directly tied to the quality of our microscopies. There was a progression from light microscopes beginning in the middle ages to electron microscopes in the early 20th century. As each microscopy was developed, humans could see finer detail. At the beginning of the 21st century, humans are working at the nanometer scale and need microscopies that allow us to see and analyze what is present at that scale. Atom probes are an important next step in this evolution to smaller dimensions and the Imago LEAP® microscope is a powerful new type of atom probe that is leading a revolution is atom probe microscopy.
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What is nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology refers to a wide range of activities in many diverse fields of endeavor that have a common attribute: materials or devices are made with control over features at the nanometer scale. This could mean sunscreen lotion that is made with 10 nm diameter ceramic particles of zinc oxide instead of 1 micrometer diameter particles in conventional sunscreen lotions. At that small size zinc oxide will absorb the ultraviolet rays from the sun just like the larger particles but they are transparent to visible light and so are clear instead of white. Nanotechnology can also refer to semiconductor devices fabricated with individual transistor devices which are 50 nanometers across that can have a billion transistors on a single chip. In all cases, what sets nanotechnology apart from conventional technologies is that when materials are made very small (near atomic dimensions), they behave differently. If we can change a material’s behavior, then we have an opportunity to create a new device or product. So nanotechnology offers a chance to use familiar materials in entirely new ways (sunscreen) and to make familiar structures with better performance (semiconductor chips). Nanotechnology also potentially applies to any material or industry. In this sense, nanotechnology is not an industry or a field like chemistry; it is a trend like industrialization that is occurring on many fronts and in all corners of the world.
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What does "nano" mean?
In the context of nanotechnology, nano comes from the word nanometer or one billionth of a meter. It is a unit of length. A meter is 39.3 inches long. A millimeter is one thousandth of a meter. A micrometer is one thousandth of a millimeter which makes it one millionth of a meter. A nanometer is one thousandth of a micrometer which makes it one billionth of a meter. Since this technology relies on structures that are some nanometers in size, it is referred to as nanotechnology. Nano is the principle prefix associated then with nanotechnology activities.
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