Agilent Technologies' SMM Mode Wins R&D 100 Award

18th August 2009

Keysight Technologies (formerly Agilent)

ES Admin

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Agilent Technologies has announced that its Scanning Microwave Microscopy Mode (SMM Mode) for use with its 5420 and 5600 atomic force microscopes (AFM) has been named an R&D 100 Award winner. Recipients of these prestigious awards are selected by an independent judging panel and the editors of R&D Magazine in recognition of the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace during the past year. Agilent SMM Mode is an innovative technique that combines the calibrated electrical measurement capabilities of a microwave vector network analyzer with the nanoscale spatial resolution of an AFM.

Agilent is honored to receive an R&D 100 Award for this unique measurement technology, said Jeff Jones, operations manager for Agilent's AFM facility in Chandler, Ariz. SMM Mode will be a highly useful tool in the evaluation of semiconductor materials and will also have applications in biological and materials research.

SMM Mode, which brings the outstanding sensitivity afforded by vector network analyzers for electrical test down to the scale of an AFM probe for the first time, works on all classes of semiconductors without requiring an oxide layer. The new technique enables complex impedance (resistance and reactance), calibrated capacitance, calibrated dopant density and topography measurements. In addition to working on semiconductors, glasses, polymers, ceramics and metals, SMM Mode lets researchers perform high-sensitivity investigations of ferroelectric, dielectric and PZT materials. Studies of organic films, membranes and biological samples can also benefit from SMM Mode.

The 47th Annual R&D 100 Awards will be formally presented at an awards banquet in Orlando, Fla., on Nov. 12. A complete list of the award recipients, including details about each winning innovation, is available at www.rdmag.com.