SEM and optical applications with the nano channel chip

The Nano Channel Chip can be used in any of our holders including a static holder for inspecting multiple chips at once, or storing them wet for another time, as well as our holder for flow experiments.

We highly recommend using optical microscopy and SEM as swift tools to adjust your experiment before taking it to the TEM. This will both save time and allow for much easier trial and error in developing the right process flow for your experiment.

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Verify liquids in the channels

The first and foremost use of the optical microscope, is to verify the presence of liquid in the Nano Channel Chip.
Due to changes in the refractive index of the membranes surrounding the channels, many different colors are represented in the nano channel chips - and this, of course, can only be seen in optical microscopy.

Optimize particle solution before going to the TEM

100 nm gold particles are easily seen flow into the channels with dark field optical microscopy

Lambda-DNA labelled with fluorophores become visible in the optical fluorescence microscope and confirm the sample preparation method is successful

The Nano Channel Chip cannot be opened up, so all samples must be flown in. This requires the concentration of sample to be very high, yet it should not agglomerate else it will clog the nano channels.
The volume of a nano channel is on the order of femtoliters - meaning a particle solution must have a concentration in ‘particles per femtoliter’, which is very high.
Experimenting with the right concentration may require some trial and error, which is much easier to do in the optical microscope or SEM, rather than at the TEM where many other factors demand attention.
Once a good number of particles have made it into the channels and observed in the optical microscope, the same chip can simply be transferred to the TEM for high resolution inspection.

Verify crystal growth via mixing

When the channels are empty or filled with a homogeneous substance, liquid or gas, the color is also homogeneous. But if crystals precipitate from mixing in the channels, the color will change due to the altered refractive index in that area.

The optical properties of the nano channels can be utilized to verify if chemical mixing results in precipitation in the nano channels.Due to changes in the refractive index when crystals form, different colors reflect where the crystals have grown in the channels.When this is verified in the optical microscope, the same chip can be inserted into a TEM or holder and observed in high resolution without further work.

Verify flow methods with Nano Particles

100 nm gold particles stand out like night and day when subtracting the background from dark field optical microscopy recordings

Because nano particles are so easily visible in the optical microscope, they can be used to verify flow procedures in the channels: When the particles move, there is flow.

Verify flow methods with Fluorescent liquids

Fluorescein is observed in the Nano Channel Chips, mixing with pure water

In TEM it is impossible to see if two liquids mix, unless there is some sort of reaction happening.With fluorescence optical microscopy, it is possible to see exactly where a fluorescent liquid is, and there it mixes with a non-fluorescent liquid, e.g. pure water.

Testing multiple samples at once

Bright channels are seen in SEM, indicating they are full of liquid - in this case 340 nm with high concentrations of aluminum nanoparticles in some areas

With our static holder it is possible to test multiples samples in parallel. It could be different samples, or different concentrations of samples to optimize nanoparticle concentration.When the right concentration is found, simply move the chip into at TEM holder and continue your optimized experiment at high resolution.