mesa+ magazine edtion 1

magazine

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1 2012

Bridge between groups

Towards a healthier agri-sector

COMAT: super-cool apparatus from Twente

Brush maker

Nanoprof with mega potential

Blowing microbubbles

preface I MESA+ MAGAZINE 03

How is it possible to improve

echoes with bubbles? What on

earth can a cow do with nano

technology? What drives a

young professor? read all this

and more in the first issue of

MeSa+ magazine!

MeSa+ magazine provides a

wide public with information

about nanotechnology and the

passion that drives people

engaged in this line of work.

MeSa+ magazine will be

published twice yearly. If you

wish to be kept informed

(and also have digital access

to the magazine) become a

member of the MeSa+ group

on LinkedIn.

Ir. Miriam Luizink, technisch-commercieel directeur

Prof. dr. ing. Dave H.A. Blank, wetenschappelijk directeur

ContentBridge between groups ............................................................................................................ 4

MESA+ schedule 2012 ............................................................................................................... 7

MESA+ NanoLab .......................................................................................................................... 8

Towards a healthier agri-sector.........................................................................................10

COMAT: super-cool apparatus from Twente ............................................................. 12

MESA+ Graduate School for Nanotechnology.........................................................15

Brush maker ...................................................................................................................................16

Nanoprof with mega potential ...........................................................................................18

Blowing microbubbles ........................................................................................................... 20

Thin film growth at high temperatures ....................................................................... 22

Colofon ............................................................................................................................................ 23

BrIdge between groups

“I see myself as the bridge between groups.” Pepijn Pinkse, program director of Applied NanoPhotonics comes straight to the point. “And I always make certain that young researchers work not only in one but in two groups. That’s how you teach them to work with multi-disciplinary skills.”

MESA+ MAGAZINE I research04

Applied NanoPhotonics is one of the five strategic Research Orientations in which MESA+ has organised its research. A Strategic Research Orientation (SRO) is a new field of research which is being investiga-ted and developed, and has links with several of the institute’s research groups.

Pepijn Pinkse is pleased with these Strategic Research Orientations: “Collaboration is second to none here; there is no ‘pushiness’ and no ‘own territory’ to defend. MESA+ers are not selfish people. If I happen to need a laser costing a hundred thousand euros, I can just borrow it. That was out of the question when I was in Garching.”

Pepijn Pinkse conducted research in Germany for eleven years and returned to the Netherlands in 2009: “As program director it is my job to act in the common interest. The fact that I’m from somewhere else, that I’m not from one of the research groups here, certainly helps. I am impartial.”Pinkse organises monthly meetings for the eighty or so researchers in the five Applied NanoPhotonics research groups. Two researchers give lectures, and when they have finished some of the researchers sit at tables with small posters while others circulate to discuss with and help the others.Pinkse is proud of his meetings: “They are attended by a loyal group of forty, fity people and oten result in unexpected teamwork. Walking around I maybe hear someone say: “Hey, are you looking for a spectro-meter? I have one for you in the basement.” That’s quite fantastic, don’t you think?”

Technology from the one group and knowledge from the otherIn the room occupied by Pepijn Pinkse, program director of Applied NanoPhotonics, we see two expe-riments that say everything about his field of study. The first experiment is a windmill positioned in-side a glass bell that runs on light. And yet it turns in exactly the opposite direction you might expect at first sight. Pinkse explains with enthusiastic gestures that two processes counteract and that the one process defeats the other: “I am driven by curiosity. If there’s something I don’t understand I need to fi-gure it out and then share that knowledge with others.”

The second experiment shows powdered milk floating in a rapidly alternating electrical field. Pinkse: “By the way, that powdered milk is much larger than nano; more micro. Yet it does illustrate what we want to achieve on the nano scale: to allow nano particles to float so that we can study them better.”

research I MESA+ MAGAZINE 05

name: Pepijn Pinkse (1970)

Position: Program Director

applied nanoPhotonics at mesa+

Previously: studied physics in

leiden, obtained his doctorate

from the university of amsterdam

and was senior researcher at the

German max-Planck-institut für

Quantenoptik

mesa+... ‘is a condensation nucleus

for talent’

als... ‘my children are older we will

be able to go on fantastic treks

through the mountains’

“Getting nanoparticles to float - that’s what I want to achieve.”


In actual fact the word nanophotonics – nano and photonics – seems to be a contra-diction. Photons move at wavelengths of hundreds of nanometres and according to some definitions you may not refer to that as nano. Pinkse neither agrees nor dis-agrees. “The most interesting effects occur if you confront light with its own scale. Here at MESA+ we are engaged in investigating a slice of crystal with holes that are so small that light is reflected back and forth inside them and even stands still. That photonic crystal immediately becomes a perfect example of multidisciplinarity. The research involved combines technology from the one group and knowledge from the other. MESA+ makes this combined research pos-sible.”

Strategic research OrientationsMESA+ has organised its research in Strate-gic Research Orientations, SROs. These are new fields of research that are being inves-tigated and developed and have links with other research groups within the institute. Over the period 2009 - 2014 the institute has and will be working with the following five SROs:1. Applied NanoPhotonics.2. NanoMaterials for Energy.3. Enabling Technologies.4. Nanotechnology for Innovative Medicine.5. Risk Analysis and Technology

Assessment.

scheDule I MESA+ MAGAZINE 07

MeSa+ schedule 2012 Date Name Group promotor

JULy

04 Pieter Moonen MNF Jurriaan Huskens

06 Ceyda Sanli PoF Detlef Lohse

20 Alexander van Rhijn OS Jennifer Herek

AUgUst 30 Tak Shing Chan PoF Detlef Lohse

september

05 Remco Verdoold NBP Vinod Subramaniam

06 Felicia Ungureanu NBP Vinod Subramaniam

07 Omar Valsson BES Claudia Filippi

12 Chung-Yul Yoo IM Arian Nijmeijer

18 MESA+ meeting 2012

20 MESA+ technical colloquium

20 Laura Agazzi IOMS Markus Pollnau

27 René Houben PoF Detlef Lohse/Frits Dijksman

27 David Lopez Penha MaCS Bernard Geurts

OctOber

09 MESA+ colloquium

17 Chunlin Song IM Arian Nijmeijer


18 Rerngchai Arayanarakool BIOS Albert van den Berg/Jan Eijkel

18 Mudassir Iqbar MNF Jurriaan Huskens

26 David Fernandez Rivas MCS Han Gardeniers

nOvember

02 Jealemy Galindo Millan BNT Jeroen Cornelissen

13 MESA+ colloquium


22 Edward Bernhardi IOMS Markus Pollnau

28 Kazem Yazdchi MSM Stefan Luding

December

05 Imran Akça IOMS Markus Pollnau

07 Igor Santos de Oliveira CBP Wim Briels

11 MESA+ colloquium

13 Vijay Anuganti BNT Jeroen Cornelissen

14 Thomas Denis LPNO Klaus Boller


20 Edit Kutnyanszky MTP Julius Vancso

21 Stefan von Kann PoF Detlef Lohse

MESA+ MAGAZINE I mesa+ nanolab08

MESA+ NANOLABMESA+ NanoLab is the state-of-the-art research facility that can boast an absolutely first-rate

cleanroom and advanced analysis possibilities. The laboratory is freely accessible to researchers

and entrepreneurs. More than 400 people use the laboratory every year, and almost 40% of its

turnover is generated by the dozens of businesses engaged in research and development or small-

scale production in the MESA+ NanoLab. This is indisputably a high-tech infrastructure which is of

importance to both the economy and innovation. MESA+ NanoLab is part of the national NanoLabNL

facility and is included in the Dutch Roadmap for Large-scale Research Facilities. For more

information go to: www.nanolabnl.nl/locations/twente

mesa+ nanolab I MESA+ MAGAZINE 09

Blue4green: towards a healthier

agri-sectorBlue4Green started four years ago with a lab-on-a-chip, a small block the size of a matchbox that was developed by Albert van den Berg’s BIOS group at MESA+. This lab-on-a-chip takes only three minutes to produce a reading of the calcium or magnesium content of blood ater a drop of a cow’s blood has been applied to the block. If a cow has too little calcium in its blood it can become sick, and before such a situation arises a farmer can decide whether to give the cow rest or supplement its feed. While many cattle farmers do administer antibiotics to their animals as a precautionary measure, it does give rise to resistant bacteria that can pose a threat to humans.

Erik Staijen: “We must become aware of the fact that you cannot see animals and people as separate beings. The term ‘One Health’ is becoming increasingly important. One Health. The health of animals and humans is inter-linked.”

What started four years ago with a lab-on-a-chip has now been developed into a complete system comprising a chip, a chip reader and an Internet site that provides cattle farmers with insight into the health of their stock.

Why doesn’t everyone use Blue4Green’s products? Staijen: “Many people think you immediately become rich if you have a technology like our lab-on-a-chip. But it doesn’t work like that. Future users must have faith in the product, and that faith needs to be fostered. They have to be able to see the value of the new technology and you have to prove that it works.”Staijen and his team have carried out field tests over the past few years with innovative dairy farmers and vets in the Enschede district. Staijen: “We can now really show dairy farmers that they can save € 20,000 a year, and that they can keep their livestock healthier and yet administer less medication. At the same time we have been able to adapt our product to meet the wishes of cattle farmers.”

And what is the next step? Staijen: “We have now developed a ‘lab-book’. This is a tablet computer you can plug the chip into. Using this lab-book means you can then send the data to a website where you compare the measurements taken on different days and carry out analyses. Vets in the district will use these lab-books and advise farmers. Our goal is to provide more insight into animal health and thus create a sustainable agri-sector.”

MESA+ MAGAZINE I sPin-off10

No laminate or carpeting on the Blue4Green office floor but artificial grass. This MESA+ spin-off manufactures self tests to help vets keep cows healthy. Founder Erik Staijen: “It is our intention to make the veterinary sector more sustainable.”

sPin-off I MESA+ MAGAZINE 11

global Shaper “While you tend to depend on older people, the leaders, you can also take command yourself.” Erik Staijen is one of the eighteen young Dutch men and women the World Economic Forum has nominated as Global Shapers. This forum is well-known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders meet to network and discuss world issues.

Staijen: “Those world leaders are all above the age of 45. We form the young generation; the generation that can shape the world for future generations. I am absolutely driven by technology. I want to use my brain and technology to create a better society.”

name: erik staijen (1981)

Position: founder and technical

director of blue4Green

Previously: studied electrical engineering

at the university of twente

mesa+... ‘can give just that little push

a spin-off needs’

in four years’ time... ‘there will be a

healthier agri-sector

thanks to blue4Green’

“One health’ is becoming increasingly

important”

The MESA+ NanoLab is a room which – from a dis-tance – looks like any other. However, appearances can be deceptive. This is the home of COMAT...

Above the glass door of room NL1037 we see a danger sign: ‘Beware laser’. Josée Kleibeuker, researcher in the Inorganic Materials Science group of professors Dave Blank and Guus Rijnders, opens the door with a key card. This is it then... the COMAT, the Complex Oxide MATerials system. Or to give it its Twente pet name: Kats Onmeunig Mooi App’raat oet Twente, or freely translated: ‘super-cool apparatus from Twente.’

The eight by eight metre room is virtually completely taken up by a sort of shiny metal octopus with four

heads, seven long rods and numerous cables. There is a constant hum and whirring in the background. “That’s the cooling, the laser and the vacuum pumps,” says Josée Kleibeuker. Kleibeuker works with COMAT almost every day. She has now finished her doctoral thesis and obtained her doctorate cum laude in March, just one week before her contract finished. “I told my supervisors that I wanted to be finished within four years. And I did.”

Kleibeuker started her research in 2008; the year in which COMAT had just reached completion. The apparatus cost € 2.5 million and is unequalled in Europe. Guest researchers visit MESA+ regularly to use this apparatus. Today a visitor from Italy and recently a scientist from Japan.

In September 2012 Josée Kleibeuker will go to Cambridge University to continue her research. In Cambridge she will focus on improving the magnetic properties of materials by manipulating their structure and composition on the atomic level.


cOMaT: super-cool apparatus from twente


Laser bombardmentHow does COMAT work, what kind of apparatus is it? Josée Kleibeuker, researcher at MESA+, explains: “This apparatus can make extremely thin layers of metal oxide and analyse them in detail. I can stack atoms on top of each other, layer by layer, and then examine what happens at the interfaces of those layers. Highly unexpected things can sometimes occur. For instance: I have placed one insulating material on top of another, and yet exactly at the interface of the two materials they apparently conduct electricity. There are different opinions as to how this is possible.”

In other words, COMAT is able to stack atoms on top of each other layer by layer. To do this the researchers bombard a block of oxide crystal the size of a one euro coin with a laser. This laser bombardment heats

a small piece of the block locally to approximately 40,000 degrees resulting in a small piece of the oxide being vaporised. The vapour then precipitates on the substrate, a tiny vitreous sheet the size of a little finger nail. In other words, the researchers have made a layer of oxide on the substrate, the thickness of a single atom.

If we wish to add another layer we shoot the laser at the block a second time. This vaporises more oxide that precipitates on top of the first layer. We can also use another block with a different oxide. In this way we are able to build up layers of different materials and produce completely new materials with astonishing properties. And we can also study those properties with COMAT.

name: Josée Kleibeuker (1984)

Position: trainee research assistant

(obtained her doctorate on 23 march 2012) with the

inorganic materials science group

Previously: studied chemistry at the university of

Groningen, preferably wants to carry out research

abroad after obtaining her doctorate

mesa+... ‘has fantastic facilities. that’s one of

the reasons why i wanted to do research here’

“The COMAT allows us to make completely

new materials”

PortholeCOMAT consists of five ‘chambers’, shiny metal globes, each fitted with a small window resembling a porthole. Each chamber has a different function. Chambers 1 and 2 are used to make the layers. Chamber 3 is where the oxide blocks and newly produced materials are stored. Chamber 4 houses an Atomic Force Micros-cope that can explore the surface, atom by atom. And finally, chamber 5 houses a roentgen photo-emission spectroscope which is able to measure which atoms are on the surface and in what state.

All five COMAT chambers are inter connec-ted. This means that the material need not be removed from the apparatus and this offers many advantages. There is a controlled vacuum area in COMAT and if the material is exposed to the atmosphere it will start to oxidise or can become conta-minated. Moreover, it costs a great deal of time and energy to create a vacuum in the apparatus once it has been opened. The researchers can move the material from chamber to chamber through long rods with the assistance of magnets and pincers.

Fundamental and applied researchJosée Kleibeuker’s research into new mate-rials is primarily fundamental by nature. But new materials also result in new appli-cations. For instance, the researchers at MESA+ are engaged in work on piezo mate-rials that can change shape accurately on command. Materials such as these are used for example in loudspeakers, inkjet printers and electron microscopes.


mesa+ GraDuate school for nanotechnoloGy I MESA+ MAGAZINE 15

MESA+ GRADUATE SCHOOL FOR NANOTECHNOLOGYThe MESA+ Graduate School for Nanotechnology is part of the Twente Graduate School (TGS) at the University of Twente. The MESA+ school covers the scientific field of nanotechnology.The Institute’s mission is to excel in research, to educate re searchers and engineers, to commercialize research results, and to initiate and participate in fruitful national and international cooperation. The Institute plays a leading role in national research programmes on Nanotechnology.MESA+ strongly values teaching and training, with 350 of the employees are PhD candidates or post-doctoral fellows. MESA+ is

formally accredited as a research school by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Currently the MESA+ Graduate School for Nanotechnology involves graduate research programmes on nanofabrication and self-assembly; nano-photonics; nanofluidics; biological aspects of sot matter, molecular and cellular biophysics; surfaces, interfaces, and interactions; building blocks and synthetic methodology; theory, modelling, and simulations; and technology assessment.For undergraduate students, MESA+ organizes the Nanotechnology MSc program, and participates in many other BSc and MSc programs.


Yin and YangTo explain the research he is engaged in, polymer chemist Xiaofeng Sui draws a diagram consisting of a circle divided into eight segments. In the middle of the circle is a Yin and Yang symbol. Xiaofeng Sui: “I chose the Yin and Yang because it’s a symbol that represents dynamism, movement, reaction and counter-reaction. My polymers are just that. They can change shape, change colour and can even change their solubility. They adapt to their surroundings and are constantly in motion.’

From top to bottom counterclockwise.1. Individual polymers.2. Polymer brushes.3. Mixed polymer brushes.4. Polymer brushes with typical patterns.5. Gel polymer brushes.6. Macroscopic gel networks.7. Mixed gel networks.8. Microspheres and nanospheres of gel and

polymers.


Brush makerIn the trainee research assistants’ room of Julius Vancso’s MESA+ department of Materials Science and Technology of Polymers, Xiaofeng Sui pushes a collection of publications towards me. They are his publications. Quite an impressive collection for someone who has only been engaged in research for three and a half years.

Why are you conducting this research?“Because I find research into polymers and polymer brushes one of the most interesting areas of science.” You can vary the size of polymers, you can use polymers separately or as gel, you can attach them to small spheres, and you can manipulate them. This research also leads to some amazing applications.”

What sort of applications?“For instance, I have made polymers for use in cell cultures. In other words my polymers can be used as a substrate for cell cultivation. I have also made polymers that can be used to deliver medicines.”

Polymers that deliver medicines?“Yes, we can make spheres from polymers and have them burst open at exactly 37 degrees or at a certain acidity level. You can place medicine inside it or attach the medicine to the outside of one of these spheres and when ingested by the patient you can have it burst open at the exact place where you want the medicine delivered.”

You have also made antibacterial polymers. Why?“You can use our antibacterial polymers to promote bone material growth for example, and subsequently introduce that bone material into a patient’s body. You don’t want bacteria to grow through it because that would obviously infect the patient. These polymers contain nano silver particles that ensure the antibacterial effect.”

What do you hope to have achieved in ten years’ time?“I hope to have become a professor by then. I certainly want to continue my career in the scientific world. First as a research student and then as the leader of a small research group, then a professorship. But first things first – I have to defend my PhD thesis in June!”

name: Xiaofeng sui (1983)

Position: trainee research assistant

(defence ceremony on 29 June 2012) at

the materials science and

technology of Polymers department

Previously: obtained his master’s

diploma in polymer chemistry at the

university of tsinghua in china in 2008,

has already been awarded several prizes

during his study, and was presented

with an ‘award for outstanding self-

financed students abroad’ by the

chinese Government in 2010

mesa+... ‘is collaborating: i have

worked together with other mesa+

groups on all my publications’

Nano polymer brushes, polymer brushes attached to spheres, polymer brushes that collapse on command. Young polymer chemist Xiaofeng Sui knows all there is to know on this subject. “I hope to become a professor in ten years’ time.”


Spinning electronsLying on the table is a snazzy 3D drawing from Wilfred van der Wiel group’s most recent publication: ‘Tunable doping of a metal with molecular spins’. This article can be read in the April issue of leading magazine, Nature Nanotechnology. The researchers here have developed a method that can provide non-magnetic materials with magnetic elements in a highly controlled manner. Van der Wiel: “While our method is ‘slap happy’, it works much better that the method followed by researchers using complex, expensive apparatus. Now that we have developed this method things are starting to become really exciting. We can now begin to manipulate physics and make semiconductors with magnetic properties for instance. That’s something that up to now has only been the dream of many physicists. These semiconductors can take care of both memory storage and data processing.”

Research with spinning electrons has not only been conducted by the scientists in Van der Wiel’s group. In addition to his research group, NanoElectronics, a contribution was also made by Molecular Nanofabrication and Biomolecular Chemistry. Van der Wiel: “You can hardly force scientists to work together. That has to grow from the base. They are just like nanostructures.”

name: Wilfred van der Wiel (1975)

Position: Professor of nanelectronics

Previously: studied and obtained his doctorate at Delft, was awarded a vidi Grant by nWo,

is a member of KnaW’s the young academy and recently received a starting Grant from the

european research council to expand his research group, has been a member of the Global

young academy since 2012

mesa+... ‘is the biggest family in enschede,

personal contacts here really do give added value’


Nanoprof with mega potential

Wilfred van der Wiel (1975) is one of the rising stars of MESA+. He graduated cum laude from Delt University of Technology in applied physics. Ater that he obtained his doctorate – also cum laude – in electron transport in quantum dots at Delt before leaving the Netherlands for a few years to work in Japan. In 2005 he returned to the Netherlands, to MESA+. In 2006 he received a Vidi Grant from research-funding organisation NWO (the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) and became a member of KNAW’s The Young Academy in 2007. On 1 October 2009 the University of Twente appointed him as professor and a day later he received a sizeable grant from the European Research Council to enable him to expand his research group. In 2012 he became a member of the Global Young Academy, a worldwide think tank of young researchers.

What is your contribution to the Global Young Academy?“I hope to bring more talent into the scientific community by bringing children into contact with science as early as primary education or at the beginning of secondary education. As members of The Young Academy we travel by coach around primary schools in the Netherlands. This concept cannot be implemented throughout the whole world. Take a country like Senegal. Senegal is far less densely populated, has fewer scientists and is

much more spacious. I would like to produce teaching material that shows that you can indeed solve problems by using scientific methods.”

And what’s the situation regarding JA@UT, the Twente variant of The Young Academy?“The rector asked Jennifer Herek, Hans Hilgenkamp and myself to develop a Twente variant of The Young Academy. We can provide University of Twente policy-makers with advice – both requested and unsolicited advice. A sort of ‘kick the system’. We have drawn up a list of criteria the members are required to meet, and will soon start to contact potential members and get the academy up and moving.”

Very nice, all those extracurricular activities, but how do you justify them?“You have to find a balance between science and extra-curricular activities. Each year I take my seat opposite the dean and the scientific director who primarily take a look at whether I have my finances in order. And up to now there’s been no problem in that respect. When I wake up in the morning I think: ‘Where can I make some money today?’ My group has meanwhile developed into a group of 27 people. This means that in less than eighteen months we have doubled our numbers.”

Wilfred van der Wiel, professor of nanoelectronics has a wide field of interest. A chat about young talent, about making money and obviously about spinning electrons.

MESA+ MAGAZINE I sPin-off20

from idea to productWim van Hoeve completed his doctoral re-search into microbubbles in March 2011, and in September of that year he founded Tide Microfluidics. Between obtaining his doctorate and starting up his business he was a guest of the University of Seville and pharmaceutical company, Bracco Suisse.

Van Hoeve: “In Seville I was able to improve by method, and in Switzerland I was able to see how a pharmaceutical company uses these bubbles. I also had the opportunity to speak with many people and tell them about my plans.”

During his doctoral research at MESA+ he developed a method to produce hundreds of thousands bubbles per second, all of equal size. He did this at the Physics of Fluidics re-search group of Detlef Lohse and Michel Ver-sluis. Van Hoeve: “I wanted to commercialise my method and it was then that I was given the opportunity to work on a temporary basis for Bracco. It was at Bracco that I saw how high the demand is for my bubble method. That was when I decided to set up my own company. I discussed my plans with MESA+, took part in their workshop on early business develop-ment, and submitted an application to STW for funding to carry out a feasibility study.He received that Valorisation Grant from STW in October 2011. Van Hoeve: “That was abso-lutely super. The € 25,000 grant allows me to carry out research for six months into whether my product is technically feasible and whether there is a commercial market for it.”

To date everything looks fine for Van Hoeve: “I attended the European ultrasound confe-rence in Rotterdam in January and it was ap-parent that there certainly is a high demand for accurately produced microbubbles. Not only for carrying out ultrasound examinati-ons but also therapeutic applications and new imaging techniques using bubbles. The only thing now is to make a prototype.”

One of the youngest spin-offs of MESA+ has been established at a location between the university campus and the FC Twente football stadium. Tide Micro-fluidics. A microbubble-blowing company.

Blowing microbubblesHanging on the wall in Wim van Hoeve’s office, the founder of Tide Microfluidics, is a photo-graph that has all the appearances of a doormat consisting of black rubber rings. Taking a closer look we see that they are not small rubber rings but minuscule, five micrometre bubbles. Van Hoeve: “My intention is to develop a bubble generator that can produce bubbles for the pharmaceutical industry and chip manufacturers. These bubbles can improve ultrasound examinations and can be used to clean computer chips.”

Improve ultrasound examinations by blowing bubbles?“Look, here you have an injection needle and a small bottle containing bubbles produced by the competitor. These bubbles are used as contrast fluid for ultrasound examinations. So while there are bubbles on the market, they are by no means as constant as mine. If all bubbles are of an equal size the ultrasound is reflected much better and consequently you obtain more well-defined results. For instance, you can make much better ultrasound photos of small organs, the prostate for instance, and that makes it possible to detect prostate cancer at an earlier stage.”

And using bubbles as a cleaning agent for computer chips? How does that work?“The process involved to produce a chip consists of five hundred steps, and ten per cent of those steps are cleaning processes. Chips are highly sensitive to grime, while at the same time they are also vulnerable to cleaning brushes. My bubbles can be made to vibrate on command and therefore rinse away the grime particles. In this respect all the bubbles must be equally small given that large bubbles can burst and damage the chip surface.”

How did you come up with the name Tide Microfluidics?“Microfluidics stands for the method to make microscopically small bubbles on a small scale and tide is just what it says: tide. I love sailing, and that implies that you always have to take the tides into account – low tide and high tide. And whichever way you look at it there is always a tide. It is constant. That’s how I want my bubbles to be: of a constant size, and a constant supply. Like the tide. Hence Tide Micro-fluidics.”

name: Wim van hoeve (1980)

Position: Founder of Tide Microfluidics (September 2011)

Previously: studied physics at the university

of twente and obtained his doctorate at the

beginning of 2011 in twente with

spinozalaureaat and mesa+er Detlef lohse

mesa+... ‘motivates’

in a year’s time: ‘i want to be able to place a

small bottle containing tailor-made

bubbles on someone’s desk and then

say “how many would you like?’

sPin-off I MESA+ MAGAZINE 21

“My bubbles make sharper

ultrasound images and cleaner

computer chips”

THIN FILMGROWTH AT HIGHTEMPERATURESAt process temperatures of 500-1200 degrees Celsius it is possible to grow ultrathin

layers; from a few nanometers up to a few micrometers. Some of these layers can be used

as a mask material; for their optical properties and mechanical properties.

Furthermore there is still a lot of study necessary to understand the properties and

possibilities of different grown layers with this technique.

MESA+ MAGAZINE I thin film GroWth at hiGh temPeratures22

July 2012 - volume 1 - number 1

MESA+ Magazine is published by MESA+,

Institute for Nanotechnology,

University of Twente,

PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede,

The Netherlands

Editors: Miriam Luizink, David Redeker,

Annerie Heesink , Myrthe Swaak

Photography: Eric Brinkhorst

Graphic design and realisation:

WeCre8 creative communication, Enschede

MESA+ Magazine is published twice annually.

Circulation: 1.000 copies

More information is obtainable from

Annerie Heesink, tel.: +31 53 - 489 3803.

No part of this publication may be reproduced

in whatever form without the prior written

permission of the publisher and other

copyright owners.

This publication has been compiled with the

greatest of care. Nevertheless, the publisher

is not liable for any inaccuracies in this

publication or for the unforeseen consequen-

ces of any errors.

coloPhon I MESA+ MAGAZINE 23

MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology I P.O. Box 217 I 7500 AE Enschede I the Netherlands I [email protected] I www.utwente.nl/mesaplus

mesa+ magazine edtion 1

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