Aron Helser is the project leader for the NanoManipulatortm, an AFM interface that allows the user to control the tip as if it were a macroscale pen. The product is now available from 3rdTech, a start-up company from the University of North Carolina (UNC). In the sequence of images to the right, the NanoManipulatortm bends and buckles a carbon nanotube in a 'stress test.' [1] Below I have interviewed Aron Helser:
Steve: What's the story behind 3rdTech and the NanoManipulatortm? How did 3rdTech get started; who is involved; what markets does it serve, etc.?
Aron: 3rdTech was started by Nick England, who has experience starting tech companies. He worked for 6 years as a research professor at UNC, and saw some great technology that he thought he could commercialize. He started 3rdTech, and invited people from UNC to bring him ideas about products. I got my masters in computer science at UNC, working on the NanoManipulatortm research project with Prof. Russ Taylor. I then worked a little while as a staff person for Russ, and saw that the NanoManipulatortm was being used every day to do exciting science in the physics dept. So I met Nick, and proposed that we make it a product.
Steve: Very Interesting! So is Prof. England still a prof. at UNC? and are you still a student there?
Aron: I started working full time at 3rdTech in May, and we now have our first order and are ready to ship the NanoManipulatortm product. I am no longer a student. Nick is now full-time CEO of 3rdTech, and he is an adjunct professor at UNC.
Steve: What kind of customers to you expect to buy the NanoManipulatortm?
Aron: We think it will be very useful in research labs with some experience in SPM.
Steve: I see it has been used to manipulate Adenoviruses, Nanotubes, DNA and Fibrin. Are there limits to its application, or can anything be "manipulated" with it?
Aron: It is somewhat limited by the AFM tip. Since the AFM tip is usually a silicon or silicon-nitride crystal, anything harder than that would be difficult. But you can get diamond tips... Also, the maximum AFM scan is usually 100 microns. So things larger than that can be hard :)
Steve: Oh, so it can be used to manipulate microscale objects in addition to single molecules and nanostructures?
Aron: Absolutely. The AFM tip acts like a probe, or screw driver, or ice pick. So anything that can be pushed by something like that is manipulable. We also provide a "sweep" tool that makes it easy to push a larger structure, by moving the tip side-to-side as it moves forward.
Steve: I see that your approach is very productive for research. Does it also have applications in manufacturing? For instance, is it economically practical to "manipulate" things on the nanoscale in order to produce products?
Aron: We don't know yet. It has been used for research so far, and most researchers feel AFMs are too slow to manufacture with. But it could be used productively for quality control or testing of something made by another method. MEMS for example.
Steve: I've been reading about your NanoManipulatortm DP-100 system and it appears to include data analysis software. What kind of analysis can be done with this software?
Aron: A very useful feature is the automatic lab notebook, which is a complete recording of your experimental data. We provide VCR type controls to replay the experiment later, but using any viewpoint or visualization you want. Researchers at UNC have found that they make most of their discoveries when they replay experiments to examine unusual behavior. We provide always available 3D visualization of the surface. You can show two more data layers with a color map and contour lines. Also, you can take measurements of individual points on the surface, and examine the results of a modification with a simple line graph. There's also a grid to overlay to make size estimations. All the data can be exported for analysis or graphing in other apps, too.
Steve: What does the name, "3rdtech" mean?
Aron: It has several meanings, in no particular order. It's Nick's 3rd company, we have three products right now, we are located on the 3rd floor, and most important, 3rdtech.com was available.
Steve: Ha ha. I see. Hey, "Nano" is also kind of like the 3rd prefix after milli and micro. Do you have (or need) investors?
Aron: We've been funded by the founders, so far, and we are pursuing investment right now.
Steve: I've been talking to some venture capitalists who want to invest in nanotechnology, should I send them your way? How can investors invest in 3rdTech? Will there be an IPO?
Aron: Well, right now we are a small company, only 5 people, and 3rdTech is acting as a kind of "company factory", and it's other two products are not about nanotechnology. So there won't be an IPO in the near future. However, I think Nick England would be interested in hearing from potential investors, "angel" investors would be best. His e-mail is "nick@3rdtech.com". He says he'd be interested in talking.
