The invention developed at the Physics Institute was licensed by a North American company. Microscope accessory will be produced at the RHK Technology factory in Michigan
By Carolina Goetten*
Innovative microscopy equipment developed at Unicamp gained international attention by exploring new frontiers in nanoscience. The invention, an accessory coupled to a Scanning Tunneling Microscope, has the advantage of its optimized light capture capacity. The equipment was launched on the world market by the North American company RHK Technology with the brand PanScan Lumin-SLT.
The experiments were conducted by professor Luiz Zagonel, from the Physics Institute, in partnership with researchers Ricardo Roman and Yves Auad. With clear industrial application, the product was protected and licensed with support from the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency. RHK promoted its international launch in March 2022, less than a year after the formalization of the technology transfer contract with Unicamp.
The technological development carried out at Unicamp enabled unprecedented performance in spectroscopy and surface sciences, explains Zagonel.
“Previously, light collection from microscopes of this type was limited to a small fraction emitted by the sample, around 5%. In this invention, the accessory enables maximum light capture, with an efficiency of around 72%.”
Impact of the new product on scientific practice
Scanning Tunneling Microscopes are imaging equipment used in various experiments that require sample analysis. “This type of microscope is powerful equipment, capable of obtaining images with atomic resolution, applicable to various types of samples of scientific and technological interest”, explains Zagonel.
According to the professor, the ability to capture more light achieved in experiments will allow for more in-depth investigations, relevant to different areas of knowledge, allowing a more agile understanding of nano-structured materials, semiconductors, metallic nanostructures, quantum dots, among others. Zagonel uses the invention, for example, in the study of materials with the potential to be key elements in the next generations of LEDs and photovoltaic cells.
“Collection rates allow us to study samples more quickly and with more attention to detail. The presence of an optical table and the high numerical aperture of the mirror used allow that, in addition to the efficient collection of light, any other optical experiment can be carried out, such as Raman spectroscopy”, he comments.
From RHK Technology's perspective, the innovation in light capture rate was considered revolutionary for scientific practice, as the 72% light harvesting efficiency helps overcome a number of limitations.
“RHK is proud to partner with Unicamp to develop a high-efficiency light collection system. The work of Professor Zagonel's team adds a significant property to the measurement. Lumin-SLT will enable advances in cutting-edge research in optical spectroscopy. Its efficiency is 20 times greater than the previous methodology", says the president of RHK Technology, Adam Kollin.
The device gained prominence in some scientific journals. The results can be checked in the magazines Nanoscale, 2D Materials and Review of Scientific Instruments, which describes the operation of the invention,
For Inova Unicamp's partnership director, Iara Ferreira, the international licensing agreement facilitated by Inova is an example of the Unicamp Innovation Agency's ability to conduct international negotiations that will allow the sharing of knowledge and technologies developed at the university.
"In a globalized world, it is essential to know the rules and practices of the international technology licensing market for generating new business and consolidating partners. We continue to search for Brazilian and international partnerships that promote open innovation so that more technologies from Unicamp are licensed and absorbed by the market", says the director.
The research and innovation project was supported by FAPESP within the program Young Researcher, which encourages the creation of job opportunities in the country to secure researchers with great potential. It is also being supported in new phase of studies which seeks to consolidate a research group dedicated to the study of the optical and electronic properties of optically active nanostructured materials.
INVENTORS AWARDED IN THIS LICENSING
Prof. Luiz Fernando Zagonel (IFGW Unicamp), Ricardo Javier Peña Roman and Yves Maia Auad were awarded in the Licensed Intellectual Property category at the Inventores 2022 Awards.
TRIBUTES PROGRAMMING
This article is part of the series of reports produced by Inova Unicamp about some of the licensed technologies. They can be read on the Inova website and also in e-book format at Inventors Award Magazine scheduled for release in June. Also scheduled is a webinar with content on intellectual property and technology transfer for June 8th, with Registration open to the general public.
Check out all the winners on the website Unicamp Inventors Award.
The 2022 Inventors Award sponsors are ClarkeModet, 3M; is Neger Telecom
*Carolina Goetten She has a degree in Social Communication, a qualification in Journalism, a master's degree in Language and Technology and a Media and Science scholarship (Fapesp).
Original article published on the Unicamp Inova Innovation Agency website
