Starting a new way of sharing discoveries

Scientists around the nation are awaiting the release of a rare microscope design that will allow scientists to probe deeper into the mysteries of the nanoscale.

By the end of this summer, Portland State physics professor Erik Sanchez and his colleagues, including doctoral candidate Derek Nowak, will publish and then release to the public their design for the first-ever open-source electron microscope.

The microscope will provide the highest optical spatial magnification that science has seen to date. Looking through the lens, scientists will be able to look at nano-size objects of 10-20 nm, surpassing the normal optical resolution power of 200 nm.

In addition, although there will be a mechanism for commercialization opportunities available through the university, the blueprints will be available to the public free of charge.

“We have the ability to unlock biological secrets for scientists, and the fact that we want to release it to the public is unusual in the world of science,” said Nowak, who has worked on the project for two years since its conception and with Sanchez for more than six years.

Sanchez and his students want their project to set an example for future scientists who will look to open-source their discoveries instead of solely commercializing them.

“We want scientific discovery to go faster,” Sanchez said. “I am hoping this will be the beginning of people doing this form of dissemination, so more people can build these systems.”

Like most complex undertakings, it has not been an easy task to build the versatile apparatus. Though the math and science experts could package software, design circuit boards and build lasers without much effort, they had to study up for the planning and funding. 

Sanchez wrote grant after grant to numerous agencies until the National Science Foundation agreed to fund the project, and awarded the university $500,000 in funding.   

Sanchez, along with other Oregon University Science professors, knows the economical and educative benefits of involving students in research.

“Universities can do projects less expensively and have the benefits of students gaining knowledge which involves sustainability,” he said.

ONAMI, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, also plays a tremendous role in securing funding and advocating for the beneficial joining of industry and academia. For many researchers, building the systems themselves is not feasible, but with ONAMI’s relationship, the microscope could be made commercially available through Portland State.   

The microscope idea was originally spurred in 1995–99 at the Pacific Northwest National Lab when Sanchez and his colleagues first questioned the physical limitation of light in relation to the microscope’s ability to magnify small objects. By shining light properly at a specially designed sharp metal tip, they found that a much higher resolution could be achieved.

Though Sanchez has a new concept, which will reduce the microscope’s cost dramatically, he needed to actually do the experiment and create the microscope in a lab. He took the idea with him to Harvard in hopes of producing the design. 

Sanchez presented the microscope plans to fellow scientists and they told him that they didn’t think the idea would work due to many issues that would complicate the overall design.

Sanchez proved the method worked with the theory to back it when he arrived at Portland State to teach physics, and commenced the microscope project that no one had been able to replicate in the past. 

The microscope and its unique capabilities will be the first template for public dissemination through the NSF.
“We intend to release the circuit board design, the software, and the mechanical design for the physical make-up of the microscope,” Nowak said. “It is exciting that NSF us looking at us as a model for releasing information.”