Technology & Research

Project MolShuttle

Intro: The project MolShuttle is an extension of the ES-CIBD technology (fig. 1) developed at the Chair of Molecular Nanoscience & Chemical Physics of Interfaces at the Technical University of Munich (https://www.groups.ph.tum.de/en/e20/esi-group/). With this technology a number of organic and biomolecules have been successfully deposited, such as proteins, DNA and nano-graphenes, amongst others (fig. 2). Those molecules play an important role in future nano-technology. 

Fig. 1 Current laboratory setup (ES-CIBD-STM): blue circle is highlighting the ES-CIBD device, the remaining parts belong to a commercial STM (UHV analytical tool), attached in-line to the deposition system.
Fig. 2 Deposited molecules on solid surfaces (Ag, Au, Cu) at UHV.

MolShuttle covers two aspects of the development to increase flexibility and usage:

1. A portable preparation port (PPP) providing a flexible transport option between samples prepared in the ES-CIBD system and remote surface science analytical tools (STM, AFM, XPS and alike) while keeping vacuum conditions

2. A further optimization of the main ES-CIBD system towards improved setup seeking an economic design

Portable Preparation Port (PPP)

The PPP shall enable smooth transfer of samples crafted in the ES-CIBD device to any other analytical system useful in surface science such as LT, JT and VT – STM, AFM, XPS, and more. The device is designed to keep UHV and low temperature conditions while transferring the samples even over considerable distances to e.g. a synchrotron.

Specifications of the pilot version:

• Four transport slots for different preparations

• Liquid nitrogen cooling using adaptable dewars

• Flag-style sample holders with piggyback option

• Fast access ports to various analytical tools reaching UHV within less than 1 hour

Molecules Library

Set of test molecules from low to high mass successfully processed