Nanotechnology comprises technological developments on the nanometer scale, usually 0.1 to 100 nm (1/1,000,000 mm). The term has sometimes been applied to microscopic technology. Nanotechnology is any technology which exploits phenomena and structures that can only occur at the nanometer scale, which is the scale of several atoms and small molecules.

Shenkar Nanotechnology Center was established in the year 2004 with the purchase of a modern Atomic Force Microscopy or AFM. This microscope can achieve a resolution higher than one nanometer (one billionth of a meter) which is an atomic-scale resolution: and unlike the electron microscopes, can image samples in air and under liquids. In principle, AFM resembles the record player as well as the stylus profilometer. The AFM operates by measuring attractive or repulsive forces between its tip and the sample. As a raster-scan drags the tip over the sample, some sort of detection apparatus measures the vertical deflection of the cantilever, which indicates the local sample height. Such a powerful tool was science fiction few decades ago and it is now accountable, to a great extend, to the fast development of the various fields of nanotechnology.

The AFM and the Scanning Electron Microscope together with the most advanced analytical and testing equipment enables Shenkar Nanotechnology Center to conduct state of the art research work. Recent projects are:

For further information:samkenig@mail.shenkar.ac.il