What's Here for You:

Vibration Isolation News is designed to keep our customers and friends up to date on the latest products and applications designed to facilitate better measurements and improved nanomanufacturing. We are an OEM supplier to leading manufacturers of scanning probe microscopes, micro-hardness testers and other sensitive instruments, and we have users at more than 200 leading universities and private and government laboratories in 35 countries.

INDEX

1. New features on our website


2. Featured Product


3. This month's featured application


4. Other Applications of Negative Stiffness Technology


5. Upcoming Nanotechnology Meetings and Webinars


6. Your comments and suggestions

New features on Minus K Technology's Website:

We have added many new features to our website, including a selection guide, product manuals, descriptions of some of our customers' experiences using our products and articles describing unique applications of Minus K products solving vibration isolation problems.

Tell a colleague: A condensed description of our products is now available in ten languages in addition to English in order to make it easier for people to find them and to get started:


Check it out at www.minusk.com

Featured Application: Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM) Systems
Minus K isolators enable SPM’s, such as AFM’s, to achieve their highest level of performance. They provide the performance of an ideal bungee system and the convenience of a bench top system without any of the problems associated with any of them, including air tables.

Features/Benefits:

*New Ergonomic Design
*Ultra-Low Natural Frequencies
*Vibradamped Frame
*Customizable Accessories
*No Air Supply Needed - Easy to Use
*Choice of Tabletops
*Ergonomic Styling
*Class 100 Cleanroom Compatible
*Class 10 Available

Table top options include Granite, Steel, Composite & Honeycomb.The Minus K vertical isolator uses a stiff spring and negative-stiffness mechanism to achieve a low net vertical stiffness without affecting the static load supporting capability. Horizontal vibration isolation is provided by beam columns connected in series with the vertical-motion isolator. Adjusted to a 1/2 Hz natural frequency, the workstation achieves 93% isolation efficiency at 2 Hz, 99% at 5 Hz and 99.7% at 10 Hz.

The MK26 Series can be configured for a wide variety of applications and customized with most of our vibration isolation workstation accessories.

Typical Vibration Control Applications for the MK26 Vibration Isolation Workstation

The MK26 Series offers the ultimate performance for a wide range of instruments, such as analytical balances, cell injection, confocal microscopes, patch clamping, optical microscopes, wafer probing, sensor calibration, atomic force microscopes and other sensitive equipment in fields such as semiconductor processing, telecommunications, aerospace engineering, and medical research. For more information: https://minusk.com/content/products/standard/vibration_isolation_table_anti_vibration_tables.html

Featured Application: Critical Need: Stable, Reliable Vibration Control
From U.S. Tech, December 2006, by Jim McMahon

It wasn't too long ago that making the decision where to locate your scanning probe microscope was a simple one - put it in the basement where the ambient vibration was minimized. But recently, with nanotechnology applications growing exponentially, scientists and engineers are putting their equipment in a multitude of locations where vibration noise Is significantly high.

Scanning probe microscopes, interferometers and stylus profilers are being sited in locations that pose a serious challenge to vibration isolation. Also, in an effort to keep their nano-equipment costs as low as possible by cutting out the peripherals, many academics and industries are not adequately providing for vibration isolation on their ultra-sensitive nano-equipment that they are putting into their facilities. Although high-budget installations - valued in the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars - typically Incorporate adequate vibration isolation, but this is not the case with many lower-budget setups - those spending under $120,000 for equipment - which represents the area of most rapid growth In the nanotechnology universe. It is estimated that 40 to 50 percent of these sites, in both academia and industry, are initiated with inadequate vibration isolation.

This article continues at:
https://minusk.com/content/in-the-news/us_tech_december_2006.html

Other Applications of Negative Stiffness Technology: Negative Stiffness Vibration Isolation Technology for Nanotechnology
From Microscopy Today, March 2007, By David L. Platus, Ph.D.

As Nanotech Applications Become More Diverse, the Need for Reliable Vibration Control Has Become Increasingly Critical

It wasn't too long ago that deciding where to locate your scanning probe microscope was a simple one: Put it in the basement where the ambient vibration is minimized. But recently, with nanotechnology applications growing exponentially, scientists and engineers are putting their equipment in a multitude of locations where vibration noise is significantly high. Scanning probe microscopes, interferometers and stylus profilers are being sited in locations that pose a serious challenge to vibration isolation.

Additionally, in an effort to keep nano-equipment costs as low as possible by cutting out the peripherals, many academics and industries are not adequately providing for vibration isolation on the ultra-sensitive nano-equipment that they are putting into their facilities. Although high-budget installations (valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) typically incorporate adequate vibration isolation, this is not the case with many lesser-budget set-ups (those spending under $120,000 for equipment), which represents the area of most rapid growth in the nanotechnology universe. It is estimated that 40 to 50 percent of these sites, in both academia and industry, are initiated with inadequate vibration isolation.

The above is influenced to some degree by the fact that those specifying nano-equipment do not always fully grasp the extreme sensitivity of the instruments, or that they require proper site selection and vibration isolation. With any type of microscope or other nano-instrument, even a high-powered optical microscope, you have got to put noise isolation there or diffused and fuzzy imaging, or sometimes no image at all, resulting in reduced operability of a facility's nano-equipment.

This article continues at:

https://minusk.com/content/in-the-news/microscopy_today_march_2007.html

Upcoming Meetings and Webinars:

Comments/Suggestions: Applications in New Fields or Features of Interest to You in Our Next Newsletter:

If you want to share your application with our readers, please send us a description so that we can publish it in an upcoming newsletter. If you have comments or suggestions we would be very interested to read them. Please send any materials to: david.resnik@minusk.com

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