Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an important instrument for the analysis of surface topography and electromagnetic properties with atomic resolution. The first atomic force microscope was successfully developed in 1985, and its modes can be divided into various modes, such as contact mode and tap mode.
AFM probes are basically fabricated by MEMS technology to process Si or Si3N4. The radius of the probe tip is generally ten to tens of nanometers. Microcantilever is usually made of a silicon wafer or silicon nitride wafer that is generally 100~500μm long and about 500nm~5μm thick. A typical silicon microcantilever is approximately 100 μm long, 10 μm wide, and several microns thick.
Common atomic force microscope probes include diamond probes, silicon nitride probes, silicon probes, and other types of probes (such as conductive probes, magnetic probes, biological probes, etc.).
Atomic force microscopy is a new type of atomic-scale high-resolution surface analysis instrument that can observe the surface phenomena of conductors and semiconductor materials like scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Therefore, AFM can be used to study the surface reconstitution, surface morphology, surface electronic state and kinetic processes of semiconductors and electrons, the surface structure of superconductors and the charge density of electronic layered materials.
In addition, with the development of science and technology, life sciences and biology began to develop in the direction of quantitative science. The focus of most experiments has shifted to biological macromolecules, especially the relationship between nucleic acid and protein structures and related functions. As a result, AFM has become one of the most important tools for studying biomedical samples. The application of atomic force microscopy in life science and biology mainly includes three aspects: observing the surface morphology of biological cells, observing the structure and other properties of biological macromolecules, and observing the force spectrum curves between biological molecules.
Analysis of the current situation and prospect of the global atomic force microscope (AFM) probe industry
North America is the largest revenue market for the global atomic force microscope industry. In 2020, North America accounted for 35.02% of the market share in this industry, but its market share will continue to decline during the forecast period, and is expected to decline to 34.38% by 2026. Asia-Pacific and Europe ranked second and third with a market share of 29.86% and 27.24%, respectively, while South America, the Middle East and Africa had a low market share of 3.33% and 4.55% in this industry. Moreover, the data suggests that the Asia-Pacific region is expected to be the fastest-growing market for this industry. The market share of the region has been increasing year by year since 2015 and is expected to account for 30.92% by 2026. In the Asia-Pacific region, with China, Japan and other economies, in recent years, with the continuous development of economic and technological development in these countries, GDP has reached a high level, which also provides the foundation and support for the development of the industry.
Data show that the total market value of the global AFM probe industry in 2015 was 139 million US dollars, and the development of the industry has been on an upward trend, but the development is not rapid. In 2020, the industry generated $196 million in market revenue for the full year. Based on this, we have conducted a series of function calculations and deduced the data for the next 6 years based on scientific models, and finally predicted that the total market value of the global AFM industry will be 310 million US dollars in 2026.
The top 3 companies in the industry are Bruker from the United States, Asylum Research (Oxford Instruments) and NT-MDT from Russia. Bruker designs, develops, and sells proprietary life science systems based on spectroscopy technology platforms, as well as a range of on-site analytical systems for substance detection and pathogen identification, and develops X-ray technology-based tools for life science and advanced materials research.
Founded in 1999, Asylum Research is an employee-owned company in Santa Barbara, California, with offices worldwide in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Taiwan. Its product line of scanning probes/atomic force microscopes sets the industry standard for technological innovation in imaging and characterization of nanoscale surfaces and structures. Its AFM/SPM is used by academic and industrial customers around the world in a wide range of applications in the materials and biosciences fields. NT-MDT has been involved in the R&D, production and support of research instruments, primarily atomic force microscopy (AFM) and its combination with super-resolution spectroscopy, for nanotechnology and its applications. In 2020, these three companies accounted for 40.87%, 18.61% and 10.90% of the global AFM probe industry. The top 3 companies occupy more than 70% of the global market, which shows that the industry concentration is high.
The future development trend of the global atomic force microscope (AFM) probe industry
Since the application scope of AFM probe is limited to atomic force microscope, which is a consumable for high-tech instruments, it is not widely used in the field and is not used much in the world. In terms of production, there are nearly a dozen factories around the world that develop and produce various AFM probes, and the market is basically saturated. The main manufacturers are located in Germany, Switzerland, Bulgaria, the United States, Russia, Japan, Israel, Italy and South Korea. Due to the short lifetime of the probe, the low resolution, the instability and poor consistency, new probes are being developed in various countries.
The development direction of new probes includes: the development of ultra-fine and ultra-sharp and ultra-long-life probes, and the improvement of the resolution and service life of probes with electrical and magnetic properties. The nano-modification of probes, especially CNT (carbon nanotubes) and functional nanomaterials, will greatly improve the performance of probes, and will further promote the wider and deeper application of SPM (scanning probe microscopy).