The development of an underwater atomic force microscope for the precise observation of underwater microbes in seawater

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26289330
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Naval and maritime engineering
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: NISHIDA SHUHEI 東京大学, 生産技術研究所, 特任講師 (90463900)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 原子間力顕微鏡 / 走査型プローブ顕微鏡 / 海洋探査 / 現場計測 / 海洋ナノセンシング / ナノテクノロジー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, we have succeeded in developing an underwater atomic force microscope which can be operated in a deep sea environment in order to visualize microscopic microorganisms in deepwater with nanometer resolution. The underwater atomic force microscope is mounted on an remotely-operated underwater vehicle, and can be operated remotely from a reserach vessel to perform nanoscale imaging in deep sea. The observation samples in deepwater are remotely fixed using the sample holder equipped with a membrane filter, which have been invented in this project. The precise imaging in the deep sea was achieved by insulation coating of a self-sensitive cantilever with Parylene. The imaging was carried out in the deep sea at water depth from 600 to 2,000 m using this system. As a result, we have successfully achieved in-situ observation of a deep sea sample with a size of about 1 μm with a resolution of several 100 nm.

Free Research Field

海洋ナノセンシング