Imagine if you could take a high-definition photo of a single molecule to see exactly how it's built and how it moves over time. Current tools only give an average blur of billions of molecules at once. This technology acts like a super-powered magnifying glass that lets scientists see and track individual chemical structures in 3D and time.
Current NMR technology requires billions of molecules to get a signal, making it impossible to see what a single molecule is doing. This forces companies to rely on bulk averages, missing critical details in nano-scale material and drug development.
Hardware demonstrators for RF matching circuits and GHz absorption spectroscopy using software-defined radio (SDR).
If you are a biotech company dealing with the need to understand how a single drug molecule interacts with a target protein — this project developed a single-molecule NMR microscopy tool that provides sub-molecular spatial resolution. This allows for the identification of individual contributions within a signal rather than a bulk average.
If you are a manufacturer dealing with the characterization of 2D atomically-thin magnetic materials — this project developed a scanning probe microscopy upgrade that enables 4D tracking of molecular dynamics. This replaces bulk measurement techniques with true nanoscale sensing.
If you are a sensor developer dealing with high costs of commercial NMR systems — this project developed a platform based on inexpensive electronic components and software-defined radio. This makes advanced NMR capabilities an affordable add-on for existing scanning probe microscopes.
Unlike commercial NMRs that are expensive and require high magnetic fields, this technology is based on simple and inexpensive electronic components. Based on available project data, it is designed as an affordable add-on for existing SPMs.
The project focuses on creating a versatile upgrade for commercially-available SPMs. Based on available project data, the goal is to democratize access by making the hardware compatible with existing microscopy platforms.
Based on available project data, the project is in the signed research phase (2023-2026) and specific licensing terms are not yet disclosed.
It is designed as a hardware add-on for scanning probe microscopies (SPM) that can operate in vacuum, ambient, or liquid environments.
The project period runs from 2023-04-01 to 2026-03-31, suggesting that a functional demonstrator will be ready by early 2026.
The consortium is heavily academic, consisting of 5 universities and 1 SME across 5 countries. With an industry ratio of 17%, the project is primarily driven by fundamental research, though the inclusion of an SME suggests a pathway toward commercializing the hardware as an SPM add-on.
Contact Universitat Linz regarding the SPM-NMR hardware integration
Contact us to identify potential licensing partners for this NMR-SPM hybrid technology.
