Agilent Technologies Inc. has installed one of its atomic force microscopes at the Cambridge Graphene Centre (CGC). The CGC is one of the key consortium partners in the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Graphene Flagship project.
Last year, the company delivered a 5600LS AFM with scanning microwave microscopy capabilities to the CGC for research on graphene and other two-dimensional materials. Graphene is a material where the second layer of carbon atoms are sp2 covalently bonded into a honeycomb lattice. Much of graphene’s appeal comes from its unique electronic properties that may one day make super-high-speed devices a reality.
SMM, a unique, AFM-based electrical characterisation technique developed by Agilent, will be used to explore various properties of graphene and related materials (e.g., capacitance, impedance and dielectric properties) at the nanoscale.
The Graphene Flagship is an academic-industrial consortium focused on a breakthrough in technological innovation. Research will encompass materials production to components and system integration, and targets a number of specific goals that leverage the unique properties of graphene and related materials.
This was chosen as one of only two FET flagship projects by the European Commission. The other is “The Human Brain Project.” Each of the two projects is expected to receive €1 billion over 10 years, half from the European Commission and half EU member states. The UK has already invested 60 million pounds to create a leading graphene research and technology “hub.”
Agilent Technologies Inc.
