Seventh International Conference on Non-contact Atomic Force Microscopy, 12-15 September 2004, Seattle, USA

Update as 5 August 2005: ncAFM05 is planned for Germany during the week of August 14-20, 2005.   ncAFM06 is planned for Japan in July 2006.  The ncAFM04 proceedings now appear in Nanotechnology, Volume 16, Number 3 (March 2005).

SUNDAY AFTERNOON PRECONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Atomic resolution images and quantitative information about electrically insulating surfaces can be obtained by non-contact atomic force microscopy (ncAFM) in vacuum or liquid environments. A 3.5 to 4 hour short course for investigators new to this technique will consist of three tutorial lectures by prominent scientists in this area who are also excellent teachers: Prof. Ruben Perez (Madrid, Spain) on theoretical aspects of AFM including in vacuum ncAFM; Prof. Franz Giessibl (Augsberg, Germany) on experimental aspects of AFM including in vacuum ncAFM; and Prof. Heinrich Hoerber (Detroit, Michigan) on AFM in liquids. Attendees should have had a course in quantum physics or physical chemistry and be familiar with the idea of the resonance of a forced driven harmonic oscillator.  Suggested preworkshop reading from the workshop instructors is: F. Giessibl, Revs. Mod. Phys. 75, 949 (2003) ; R. Garcia and R. Perez, Surface Science Reports 47, 197 (2002); and H. Hoerber and M. J. Miles, Science 302, 1002 (2003). The cost for this short course is only $60.  It is not necessary to register for the conference to attend this course, but it is necessary to register to attend the short course (see online registration form).

HOUSING AND REGISTRATION. Travel and accommodation information  Online registration form including preconference workshop

PROGRAM INFORMATION. There are some small changes to the program that are not yet shown on online preliminary conference program  Summary of invited speakers is below.  A 330 Kb pdf of the first pages of the conference abstract booklet as well as the very large (circa 16 Mb) pdf of the booklet including abstracts are available for downloading.  The program will be printed in black and white.

The Fourth Annual Nanoscale Science and Technology Workshop 2004 held at the University of Washington (UW) by the Center for Nanotechnology and the UW-Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory Joint Institute for Nanoscience (JIN) will occur on the Thursday and Friday of the same week as the ncAFM04 conference occurs on Sunday-Wednesday, to encourage further synergism between nanoscale science and technology and the rapidly developing techniques of non-contact atomic force microscopy.  The program is posted and reduced rate registration deadline is 10 September.

Sponsors of the ncAFM04 conference so far are Omicron Nanotechnology , RHK Technology ,  Nanonis GmbH , MikroMasch USA ,  Nanosurf AG , PSIA, Inc. ,  National Science Foundation ,  University of Washington Center for Nanotechnology ,  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and PNNL/UW Joint Institute for Nanoscience .

A schematic drawing showing the location of the lecture hall, refreshments area, sponsor information area, and poster area for ncAFM04 is posted. Information for sponsors. Photos looking toward lecture hall and looking towards poster area.

From 24 May 2004 Update: We are pleased to announce that Heinrich Horber (inventor of photonic force microscope) has agreed to be the third instructor at the optional preconference workshop on Sunday afternoon, Christian Loppacher has agreed to be the fifth invited speaker at the conference, and Udo Schwarz has agreed to be the guest editor for the proceedings to be published in Nanotechnology.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM: The on line preliminary scientific program includes invited and contributed talks during the day on Monday through Wednesday as well as poster presentations on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Invited speakers are: Oscar Custance, Osaka, Japan, "Using Non-contact Atomic Force Microscopy for Laterally Manipulating Single Atoms at Semiconductor Surfaces"; Suzanne Jarvis, Dublin, Ireland, "The Measurement of Water Structure with Application to Biological Systems"; Khaled Karrai, Munich, Germany, "Optically Tunable Mechanics of Microlevers"; John Sader, Melbourne, Australia, "Dynamic Force Spectroscopy in Vacuum and Fluids: Theoretical Considerations"; and Christian Loppacher of Dresden, Germany, "Quantitative Surface Potential Tracking of Organic Adsorbates." The conference banquet will be held Wednesday evening and is included in the registration fee.

VISAS: It is important for those requiring a visa  to attend the conference to apply for a visa at least 3 to 4 months in advance as detailed at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/visas/Traveling_to_US.html  Please check that site periodically for updated information. 

SUBMISSIONS TO PROCEEDINGS: Article submissions for the NC-AFM2004 special issue of the journal Nanotechnology (ncAFM2003 was published in Feb 2004 issue) will be handled on line; see  information about submitting manuscripts. Those submitting articles will need to hand in a copy of the Article Submission Form (version in Microsoft Word) to the Guest Editor Udo Schwarz at the conference and send an electronic file of your paper together with an Assignment of Copyright Form and a copy of Article Submission Form directly to IOPP as outlined in the document on the website.  Submission deadline for manuscripts is 1 October 2004.

Applicants for travel assistance from funds provided to the conference by the USA National Science Foundation have been notified.   (Recipients must comply with the NSF Guidelines for foreign travel. )

We look forward to welcoming you to Seattle.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy (ncAFM) is currently the only technique to obtain atomic resolution topographical images of clean, insulating surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum. This information is vital to future exploitation of these materials in nanotechnology.  In addition ncAFM also reveals structural information about semiconductor surfaces complementary to that obtained by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM). The first results about atomic manipulations required for conducting wire formation on insulating surfaces are being reported with ncAFM for semiconductor surfaces. The technique also has widespread application in detecting magnetic and electrical forces in vacuum, including the developing techniques of magnetic resonance force microscopy, as well as topographical measurements with minimal forces in air and fluids.  This continues the series of international conferences that has been held in Osaka, Japan (1998); Pontresina, Switzerland (1999); Hamburg, Germany (2000); Kyoto, Japan (2001); Montreal, Canada (2002); and Dingle, Ireland(2003). The first meeting of this conference in USA will be in Seattle on 12-15 September 2004.

Topics of the conference include:
1. Instrumentation and techniques for non-contact AFM:
2. Non-contact AFM with true atomic resolution
3. Analysis/simulation of contrast mechanisms
4. Theory of non-contact AFM
5. Measurement of tip-sample interaction potential
6. Damping and dissipation mechanisms
7. Small amplitude techniques
8. Tapping vs. non-contact mode
9. Operation in liquid environments
10. Application to insulators, semiconductors and metals
11. Application to organic, molecular and biological materials
12. Application to magnetism, ferroelectricity and Kelvin Probe
13. 3-D mapping of atomic force with true atomic resolution
14. Modification of tip apex atom to control atomic force
15. Relation of ncAFM to Atomic Manipulation and STM