Atomic Force Microscopy Market Trends

Drivers

Several Governments to Promote Research and Development in Nanotechnology and Nanoscience

• Over the last 3 decades, atomic force microscopy is a powerful nanotechnology imaging tool that provides a variety of methods to investigate nanomaterial properties, such as topography, elasticity, adhesion, friction, electrical properties, and the presence of magnetism in the field of materials. Nanotechnology can be useful in a variety of industries including pharmaceutical manufacturing, water purification, information and communication systems, and the production of strong, lightweight, robust, and uniform nanomaterials so governments have the world is promoting nanotechnology research funding. For example, the German government provided funding worth about $17 million (€15.6 million) for the construction of an electron cryo-microscopy facility at the Center for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB).

Increasing Investment in OLED Production and Expansion

• The increasing adoption of high-end smartphones with large displays boosted the demand for OLED panels across the globe. OLED panels are widely used in smartphones due to their clear image, light weight and high contrast. Samsung Display (South Korea) is a leading manufacturer of small and large AMOLED displays for smartphones. Approximately 4 trillion won (US$3.6 billion) has been invested in the OLED market between 2015 and 2017. Along with other companies such as HTC Corporation (Taiwan), Nokia Oyz (Finland), Motorola, Inc. (USA) as well as Telefónica Brasil (Vivo, headquartered in Brazil, started producing high-end mobile models equipped with OLED displays. Many technical researchers and manufacturers choose AFM if they are to review parts related to structural geometry such as feature height, pitch, critical dimension, angle, and even sidewalls a roughness analysis of OLED displays. This results from accurate measurement results, low noise in the system, high resolution and variability few occurrences of tip-to-tip using AFM imaging technology. All these factors are expected to drive the growth of the global atomic force microscopy market in the coming years.

Restraints

Damage to Samples due to Contact-mode AFM

• In contact mode, the tip follows a trajectory consistent with a continuous and repulsive tip-sample force using a feedback loop. There are 2 types of contact-quality measures: the constant force method and the constant height method. In constant force mode, the specimen or tip uses a feedback loop to move up and down while keeping its deflection constant. The value of the Z velocity (z is height) is determined by the height change on the specimen surface. As a result, surface geophysical data can be obtained. Since the tip is in uninterrupted contact with the surface, this property is strongly influenced by shear and adhesion forces, which can damage or abrade fragile samples, such as polymers or organic macromolecules on the surface. The force applied to the background can be very high. It can damage samples and it can ignore artifacts. This can result in distortion of image details or movement of relatively weak attachments. This method is widely used to examine the surface of complex chemical compounds. This method can also be used for surface topography imaging of stationary cells when small forces are applied.

Lack of Skilled Personnel to Operate Atomic Energy Microscopes

• Physicists and laboratory technicians can easily use standard hybrid microscopes. However, the development of advanced microscopes requires skilled labor. According to a survey by the National Association of Business Economists (NABE), 35% of the economists who participated reported that the skilled workforce in the U.S. is less than 10 percent. Atomic force microscopes are widely used in nanotechnology. Physicists or engineers using these tools must have extensive interdisciplinary knowledge in surface physics and surface analysis to study the chemical composition of organic compounds characteristics The complexity of equipment mechanisms can have a significant impact on their adoption.

High Infrastructure Costs

• One of the most important challenges for manufacturers when developing microscopes is accuracy and calibration. Environmental factors such as temperature and pressure greatly influence the substrate under study. Low contrast and bright light can make it difficult to see specific details; Thus, lighting methods require additional effort. High-quality optics and advanced digital image processing are huge investments, further hampering market growth.