1 year STM project anniversary

It’s now been a year since I first decided to start building an STM in my spare time – this project has taken me all over the country and I’ve learned a huge amount.

I haven’t had much to talk about lately because:

1) I’ve been focusing on hardware upgrades that improve efficiency and speed in not-immediately-obvious ways (look for the teensy at the botom of the picture, and the shiny new chips near it).

2) Since I’m working on signal path stuff, I had a pause while my new DSO nano (at the top of the photo) shipped from overseas.

3) I’ve been completing other projects so I can refocus on the Z signal path with fewer distractions.

Thanks very much to my friends Mitch Altman, Jordan Bunker, Camo, Steve Finklestein, Ian Spielman, and everyone else who took me seriously enough to help me push this project down the road towards reality in 2010!  Here’s to a productive 2011!

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Project Announcement: Design/Build of an STM

Bare main board, stuffed main board, and a microscope head board.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s radio interview, I’ve been working diligently on a DIY Scanning-Tunneling Microscope (STM).

The device I’m building will be significantly cheaper than the $15k a student level machine would cost, and will hopefully reach that range of performance.  I’m certainly not expecting to build a device that can have the accuracy to do real research for only a few hundred dollars, but I’m hopeful that we can achieve modest results.

Right now, I’m basing the design on the work of John Alexander, but we (my electrical engineering and software gurus and I) will be extending and improving this design for microprocessor control and trace capture.  I’m also contacting some of the recent builders of this class of device to hear their opinions and advice. I really am standing on the shoulders of giants here, and by basing my work on that of a lot of (very) brilliant people, I hope to be able to achieve success.

[Project goals, current, and future state after the jump...] Read the rest of this entry »

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Fail, then Question Everything (Research Notebook)

In my current job, I don’t do research, and I miss it.  This is partially why I started the chemhacker project – it’s a way for me to take some fun chemical projects, research them, develop my own processes for making a few things, and maybe even make some new things.

Over the past few months, I have been slowly working on a process for making ferrofluids by making magnetite nanoparticles, then adding surfactants, and suspending them in a liquid.  Starting only from (mostly) readily available household chemicals.

I started with a process that I know works, but has a lot of problems  – the end product isn’t very good, and there are unnecessarily dangerous intermediate steps, but it works.  I successfully ran through the bad process, listed all the problems I found, and prepared to move onto my new, safer, more efficient, better process.

And then it happened.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Can’t do without: Al Foil

I have a confession:

I <3 aluminum foil and can’t do chemistry without it.

When I first saw researcher friends using it, I was dumbfounded: what’s up with all the aluminum foil in your labs?

I’ve since become a convert: it’s a cheap, clean, impervious to spills, versatile, multitasking material that no lab should be without. Go out and buy a few rolls right now.  You’ll save money and frustration after only one use.

Here are only a few reasons why you should have a roll at hand in your chemistry lab:

  • Need a smooth, clean, spill-proof surface? Hey, presto! Just roll some out onto your workbench. When you’re done working, cleanup is a snap! Crumple it up, and toss it into the recycling bin. A sheet of aluminum foil won’t let spills touch your bench, is clean, and is a nice smooth surface.
  • Weigh boats.
  • Temporary container. (mine look exactly like my weigh boats)
  • A quick funnel.
  • A smooth surface to pour out a material for setting into a sheet.
  • A place to rest a stirring rod or magnetic stir bar without contaminating your entire work area. Read the rest of this entry »
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March 8, 2010 | Posted in: Tools | Comments Closed