Atomic Force Microscopy
Several atomic force microscopes (AFMs) are set up for a broad range of tasks under ambient conditions, from surface-roughness characterisation to functional imaging at the (sub-)nanometre scale. Bio Nano Consulting has particular expertise in ‘soft’ AFM to address biological (eg live cell) surfaces – for example, assessment of live-cell ligand mapping using AFM tips functionalised with drug candidates.
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Biacore T100 (Surface Plasmon Resonance)
The Biacore T100 is an optical biosensor system that measures binding interactions directly without the need for analyte labelling. The system is particularly suited for protein binding studies and can be used to measure rate constants, affinity constants, concentrations, binding specificity, and thermodynamics. It can also be used for rapid epitope mapping.
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Combined AFM-Raman System
The next step from confocal microscopy to increasingly smaller material analysis on the 200-400nm range is the combination of Raman spectroscopic analysis with near field optics and an Atomic force microscope (AFM). We have a combined system consisting of a Horiba Jobin Yvon Raman and a VEECO AFM system. This system combines both structural and chemical analysis of surfaces.
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Clean Room (LCN)
The Centre's Clean Room is rated as Class 100 to Class 1000. This is an environmentally controlled area in which dust and other air-borne contaminates are minimised. The ultra-clean conditions that are maintained allow precision fabrication and characterisation of nanostructured devices.
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Confocal Microscopy
Confocal microscopy is an optical imaging technique used to increase micrograph contrast and/or to reconstruct three-dimensional images by using a spatial pinhole to eliminate out-of-focus light or flare in specimens that are thicker than the focal plane. Bio Nano Consulting has numerous confocal microscopes at its disposal.
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Electron Ion Beam (Focused Ion Beam) Facility
The Carl Zeiss XB1540 “Cross-Beam” focused-ion-beam microscope at LCN is a unique instrument in a unique location. The instrument is equipped not only with an in situ field-emission scanning electron microscope for gallium-free imaging, but also an in situ low-voltage argon-ion-miller for gallium-free nanofabrication. The instrument is located in a brand new purpose-built class 10,000 cleanroom in the basement level of the London Centre for Nanotechnology.
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High Performance Computing Systems
Bio Nano Consulting has access to two significant pieces of computational infrastructure:
- A computational grid for the simulation of nanostructures and nanoscale phenomena;
- A visualization grid for the visualization of simulation results and data from experiments.
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Isothermal Titration Calorimetry
ITC is a quantitative technique that can directly measure the binding affinity, enthalpy changes and binding stoichiometry of the interaction between two molecules (eg a protein and a ligand in solution). From these initial measurements Gibbs energy changes and entropy changes can be determined.
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LC-MS/MS System
Bio Nano Consulting’s Applied Biosystems LC-MS/MS gives unequalled accuracy and precision for analysing small molecules in complex biological systems.
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MALDI Workstation
The MALDI Workstation enables high throughput routine protein identification by MALDI-TOF peptide mass fingerprinting, immediately followed by more detailed protein characterization using MALDI-TOF tandem mass spectrometry on the same sample. Comprehensive MS information is available from minute sample amounts within a few seconds.
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Scanning Electron Microscopy
The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope that images the sample surface by scanning it with a high-energy beam of electrons in a raster scan pattern. The electrons interact with the atoms that make up the sample producing signals that contain information about the sample's surface topography, composition and other properties such as electrical conductivity.
Equipment:
- LEO Gemini 1525 FEGSEM
- JSM840A SEM
- JSM5610LV SEM
- JSM6400 SEM
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Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy
STM probes the density of states of a material using tunnelling current. For STM, good resolution is considered to be 0.1 nm lateral resolution and 0.01 nm depth resolution.
Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS)
SIMS is a technique used to analyze the composition of solid surfaces and thin films by sputtering the surface of the specimen with a focused primary ion beam and collecting and analysing ejected secondary ions.
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Spectroscopic Imaging Ellipsometer
Ellipsometry is a non-destructive optical method for determining film thickness and optical properties. Imaging Ellipsometry combines the power of ellipsometry with microscopy and overcomes the limits of classical ellipsometers. As an optical technique, it is non-destructive and contactless, and so is ideal for biological use.
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Transmission Electron Microscopy
TEM is a microscopy technique whereby a beam of electrons is transmitted through an ultra thin specimen, interacting with the specimen as it passes through it. An image is formed from the electrons transmitted through the specimen.
Equipment:
- TITAN Transmission Electron Microscope
- JEOL 2000FX TEM
- JEOL 2010 TEM
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X-Ray Diffraction
X-ray diffraction finds the geometry or shape of a molecule using X-rays. X-ray diffraction techniques are based on the elastic scattering of X-rays from structures that have long range order. This technique reveals information about the crystallographic structure, chemical composition, and physical properties of materials.
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X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
XPS is a surface chemical analysis technique that can be used to analyze the surface chemistry of a material in its "as received" state, or after some treatment such as: fracturing, cutting or scraping in air or UHV to expose the bulk chemistry. The system is particularly useful in surface and interface analysis.
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