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What Users Are Saying About Asylum Research |
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On Asylum Research Support and Staff |
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“I have to say, of all the instruments in my care, from FACS to multiphoton to laser tweezers to CT scanners to PCR machines to AFM, you guys are hands down the best when it comes to customer care and support!!!! Thanks for all your help over the last couple years!!!” Chris Bjornsson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
Scott MacLaren, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) |
“We use Asylum Research AFMs for their great resolution and precision and for the pleasure of dealing with such knowledgeable and helpful customer support.” Sonia Contera, Oxford University |
"We are combining the Asylum AFM (MFP-3D-BIO) with an optical microscope to obtain high-resolution fluorescence imaging. Asylum engineers and scientists provide professional consultation for our installation. We are thankful for their continuous support to our research in fluorescent nanodiamond." Huan Cheng Chang, Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan |
“I appreciate the extensive training provided by Asylum and their efforts in working with us to develop new experiments with the Asylum AFM system.” W.K. Chan, University of Hong Kong |
"This must be the best warranty in the business." Jan Lofvander, AFM Lab Manager, CNSI, UCSB |
“AR once again proves it has excellent customer service!” Eric Darling, Brown University |
"As a fairly young research institute it was important for us to purchase only the best instrumentation available, both to attract the best researchers and to ensure immediate scientific competitiveness. As such, Asylum Research was a natural choice.” Lars Niemann, CSI, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany |
"I called technical support this morning (3/10/2010) with a few questions concerning our instrumentation, and I spoke with Alejandro. He was very insightful and helped me understand what my instrument (MFP-3D) was doing. I felt this was above and beyond the usual tech support calls I make to asylum, which are already fantastic." Thomas Mullen, University of California, Davis |
"Asylum (and Atomic Force F&E) support is great - you can talk directly to the scientists and engineers – there is no barrier." Thorsten Hugel, Technical University of Munich |
Miklos Kellermayer, Semmelweis University |
“Asylum provides such good service that it is pointless to go to anyone else for our next AFM.” Matteo Chiesa, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi |
"We’ve worked with commercial AFMs for more than 10 years but now for the first time, we own a microscope designed by researchers for researchers, the MFP-3D. With their unprecedented dedication and affection for the needs of researchers in the field of nanobiotechnology, Atomic Force/Asylum Research are clearly leading the field." Andreas Janshoff, University of Göttingen |
“I was originally worried about moving our AFM, but Asylum's expertise and knowledgability ensured it was moved and set up without a hitch. Their customer service is paramount - I felt everyone there went the extra mile to make sure our AFM would be working at our new site. And all this occurred without any extra fees or charges. The Asylum AFM itself works great! We are not only able to obtain great images of our samples, but we can also create Asylum MFP3D code in IGOR to suit our imaging and analytical needs.” Rajay Kumar, Scientist, Etamota Corporation |
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"We wanted to thank you again for our second MFP-3D installation. We enjoyed working with and learning from Jean, as well as Rob's visit and information. It has been truly a pleasure working with Asylum Research and every time you continue to impress us with your excellent products, service, positive attitude, dedication and friendliness. Just a couple of weeks ago Mike Holmstrom was guiding two of our students on diagnosing a damaged piezo, and after shipping the stage for repairs it came back within a couple of days. We are extremely grateful for everything you do and look forward to continuing working with you in the future. Hopefully we'll be placing another order before too long." Santiago Solares, University of Maryland |
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“Your tech support staff has been great in helping us get the best possible data. They are definitely willing to go the extra mile. Bryant Chase and Campion Loong, Florida State University |
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“I think what makes Asylum such a good company is the service that you provide. I have never had this kind of luck with (competitor) and I am very pleased we have now chosen to go with Asylum.” Esra Roan, University of Memphis |
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“Asylum really has great support!” Edmond K.C. Chow, Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory (UIUC) |
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"I bought my MFP system in 2007 and it has been running non-stop ever since. This is the most robust instrument I have ever seen and the support is the best in the business." Shuchen Hsieh, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan |
Kaiyang Zeng, National University of Singapore |
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Andrew Kirby, Institute of Food Research, Norwich, UK |
"The MFP-3D is an excellent system with a very user friendly interface. Students who are just starting with AFM can obtain useful data within relatively short time (which is also thanks to the wonderful customer support provided by Asylum Research)." Prof. Aleksandra Djurisic – University of Hong Kong |
Elena Taran, The University of Queensland |
“I am so pleased that I decided to purchase the MFP-3D-BIO AFM and am also quite happy with how great it has been to work with you folks at Asylum. There is huge excitement here and I do feel that it has allowed our work to be taken to a completely different level – and to enable us to make some pretty profound observations that may prove relevant for cancer diagnosis/prognosis and perhaps even therapy. The whole mechano field is just blowing wide open, not just in cancer but in an array of fields. We have created so much interest in using this approach in biology that there are loads of folks who want to collaborate, both inside and outside UCSF.” Valerie M. Weaver, Director and Professor, Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration , University of California at San Francisco |
"Asylum [Chinese characters] AFM" (Asylum is a Rolls Royce level of AFM.) Din Ping Tsai, Distinguished Professor of National Taiwan University, Taiwan |
"The MFP-3D with piezoresponse force microscopy is a powerful tool for us to investigate ferroelectric and ferroelastic domain structures. In our group, crystal and domain structures and physical properties of ferroelectric single crystals are investigated. MFP-3D is an excellent instrument to resolve 3D domain structures formed in the crystals. Recently, we have succeeded in observing extremely fine domain structures with a size of 10-20nm in defect-controlled BaTiO3 single crystals." Dr. Noguchi, University of Tokyo |
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"The MFP 3D's popularity is spreading like wildfire through our institute - students, PhD students and post-docs all want to measure with the AFM. To cope with the flood of requests we've had to start an online calendar and now even the neighbouring institutes are applying for MFP-time!" Thomas Teubner, Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth, Berlin |
Jiangyu Li, University of Washington |
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Eva Valsami-Jones, London Museum of Natural History |
"One of main obstacles to improving plastic solar cell performance is the lack of morphological control for solar cell materials, as well as understanding of device physics. Conductive and photoconductive AFM are currently the only techniques shedding light into device operation. Integrating inverted optical microscopy and a light source, the MFP-3D-BIO AFM from Asylum Research provides both Conductive AFM when the light source is off and Photoconductive AFM under illumination. In the dark condition, information on charge transport can be extracted, such as conductive pathways and local mobility relating to formation of bicontinuous networks of donor and acceptor. Under illumination, charge generation and charge collection indicating device performance can be obtained. With such capabilities and reliability, The MFP-3D is the most powerful system for deeply understanding chemical structure/processing condition/device performance relationships. Another excellent function is that with MFP-3D AFM, the origin of local open-circuit voltage can be elucidated by light intensity dependence studies. These are the reasons why we have chosen the MFP-3D for studying solar cells.” Xuan-Dung Dang, University of California, Santa Barbara |
Scott MacLaren, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
“The MFP-3D-BIO system is absolutely fantastic and everything we've tried so far has worked beautifully!” Rebecca Wilusz, Duke University |
David Ginger, University of Washington |
“Our MFP-3D-BIO is a technological treasure. We have coupled our AFM with a fluorescence microscope and added environmental control and have as a result a platform of exceptional precision. This versatile instrument has allowed us to efficiently perform experiments on light-sensitive nanoparticles, clays, and bacterial biofilms, as well as perform nanomanipulations of epi-structures of bacteria, including molecular stretching and biomolecular recognition. We are now going to upgrade our system with a BioHeater to perform experiments on chemical and enzymatic kinetics with controlled temperature.” Grégory Francius, Université de Nancy |
“Asylum might like to know that my purchase of your very first MFP instrument all those years ago has lead to me being awarded the 2010 Biophysical Society U.S. Genomics Award for Outstanding Investigator in the Field of Single Molecule Biology – the MFP is still my only AFM and is still turning out great data!” Jane Clark, Cambridge University |
"I think the biggest way the MFP-3D-BIO has helped us is by providing a very easy way to measure forces in liquid - otherwise we would not have been able to do all this." Postdoc Researcher at US Government Institute |
Eric Darling, Brown University |
"We got an MFP-3D-BIO as our first AFM, and we are very happy with the instrument and the support. Some sales people try to talk their customers into buying their products – Atomic Force F&E simply convinced us that the MFP-3D is the best AFM for our needs." Martin Beyer, University of Kiel |
"We have chosen the MFP-3D-BIO because of its powerful capabilities, its flexibility and reliability. The MFP allows us to perform a large variety of studies with high precision in our areas of research, from bionanotechnology to biophysics. Because of all these characteristics and Asylum’s exceptional customer service, we are really happy about our choice. The MFP AFM excels in all aspects, from topographical studies to force measurements. The MFP-3D is an instrument of great quality, with a simple configuration." Csilla Gergely, Univeristé de Montpellier |
"We love Asylum AFM's and had been waiting for the funds to purchase this one for over a year. We are glad it's finally coming!" Santiago Solares, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland |
“The MFP-3D AFM we have acquired from you proves to be a reliable and versatile tool with various applications. For this reason we want to express our pleasure in using it and to thank you for this opportunity.” Alin Iuga, National Institute for Materials Physics, Bucharest, Romania |
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"I would definitely purchase the AFM from Asylum - the instrument is the best and the service and people we deal with are fabulous and responsive immediately. We have coupled our AFM with a TIRF." Georges Belfort, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Advice to French researcher) |
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Christine Ortiz, MIT |
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Jeremy Levy, University of Pittsburgh |
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“We are doing well and we love our new MFP-3D system!” Regina Ragan, University of California, Irvine |
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“I have been using various AFMs, and I can truly say that the Asylum AFMs are the best.” Engineer at US Government Institute |
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Lyubov Belova, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm |
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Chemist at major multi-national oil company |
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Matteo Chiesa, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi |
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Jan Hoh, Johns Hopkins University |
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Dennis Discher, University of Pennsylvania |
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Yuri Lyubchenko, University of Nebraska Medical Center |
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"I LOVE IT! The MFP-3D completely exceeds my expectations. In fact, it's too much (and it's only going to get better). Mario Viani has been great, and I'm certain I could learn more physics from him in a week than in an entire Grad degree. But that seems to be AR's trademark. Great scientists behind great gear. You might think I'm being too effusive, but I haven't yet started..." Tim Senden, Dept. Applied Mathematics, The Australian National University |
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“We’ve used the MFP-3D since 2002 and it has been an extremely reliable and flexible instrument. On the one hand it is easy enough to use for training of students and, on the other hand, it is the most powerful AFM for high-end scientific research projects. The open access software offers a wide range of capabilities to enable your own ideas and visions.” Thomas Gutsmann, Leibniz-Center for Medicine and Biosciences |
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“Asylum’s MFP-3D is a powerful and highly flexible system that makes your daring experimental ideas come true.” Sergei Kalinin, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), CNMS |
“The recent results I’ve seen from Asylum’s Ztherm Modulated Thermal Analysis are the highest resolution thermal measurements by anyone to date. Truly impressive!” William King, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign |
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"The Cypher is the best AFM I have ever used. For our group it has allowed seamless integration of spectroscopic modes for probing contact mechanics in polymers, ionic diffusion in energy storage and generation materials, and polarization switching in ferroelectrics and multiferroics in one flexible, high-stability platform. Cypher makes the work we do possible." Stephen Jesse, Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
"Cypher, from my understanding the first one built, generated publication-quality data on the show room floor at MRS 2008. I think this says it all, an AFM so stable it can image molecular conformation in protein nanofabrics ~10nm thick in the old Hynes exhibition hall with thousands of people in attendance and trains running underneath. Cypher clearly sets the standard in terms of performance. Plus, Asylum Research also has the best service in the business." Adam Feinberg, Harvard University |
Nikta Fakhri |
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"Our new Cypher system is exceptional in terms of performance, automation, imaging speed and ease of use. I'm already recommending Cypher to my AFM colleagues." Bryan Huey, University of Connecticut |
"Cypher is truly the first third generation AFM. The Asylum Research folks have looked at everything that limited AFM performance in the past and addressed all of them in this new design. Cypher has better resolution, less noise, less drift, is more accurate, is able to scan faster and, on top of that, is the easiest to use AFM I have ever seen -- and I’ve seen pretty much all of them while doing AFM since the first DI AFM was introduced 20 years ago. Bruce Parkinson, University of Wyoming |
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Andras Kis, EPFL Switzerland |
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“Cypher is a great machine and I am very excited by the research possibilities.” Kislon Voitchovsky, MIT |
“Cypher es un excelente SPM. Su estabilidad, resolución, versatilidad y fácil manejo lo hacen único. Permitiendo que la caracterización de materiales sea sencilla brindando muchas posibilidades de análisis. Estamos muy contentos de contar con este instrumento en nuestros laboratorios.” Manuel Espinosa, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Nucleare (ININ-Mexico) |
“We were delighted to host a team of researchers from Asylum Research to the LCN in London to demonstrate the capabilities of their new Cypher atomic force microscope. During this three-day event, our researchers had the chance to try this new high resolution microscope and were left with a very positive experience. I believe Cypher is one of if not the best high performance AFM on the market. It shines by its combination of high-resolution and ease of use.” Laurent Bozec, London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) |
Raymond R. Dagastine, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne |
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"The AFM in Biology Class, April 13-15, 2011 was very instructive. The literature, on-hands sample preparation labs and imaging sessions on the MFP-3D BIO and Cypher were very useful and applicable to our research endeavors at the College of Medicine’s Microscopy Imaging Center, University of Vermont. The staff was outstanding in that they made you feel like a part of a caring family; since the class, the ongoing correspondence and assistance has been stupendous. Being housed at the Best Western Inn location of Santa Barbara, CA and experiencing outstanding weather made for a very relaxing atmosphere for scholarship. It was great to see folks I had dealt with in the past; connecting faces to names. I had correspondence in years past with Sophia when she was with DI/Veeco and I had met Nick Geisse as well as notable Jason Cleveland at the John Hopkins BioAFM Course with eminent Jan Hoh in July 2000. Getting to know other folks with Asylum Research and meeting fellow AFM users was congenially refreshing. Oh, the barbecue festivities was an outstanding group soirée. Thanks for the hospitality and great course." Anthony Quinn, University of Vermont |
"I'd like to thank you for all your kindness, time and effort you've put into making your Nanomechanics class a great experience for all of us. Everything was so at ease, informal and incredibly fun. All instructors were so attentive and the lectures were so informative, that I'm sure what I've learned there will be very helpful at my work." Luciana Moreira Seara, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)/FUNDEP |
"I attended Asylum’s AFM class for biologists several years ago. It’s composed of a series of seminars and hands-on experiments that are very helpful for AFM biological practices. Enjoy!" Zhao Deng, Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology |
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"I recently attended Asylum's AFM in Biology Class without much AFM experience and was skeptical about how much knowledge and experience I could gain in just three days. The class turned out to be way above my expectations: it was very well organized with classroom lectures balanced with hands-on exercises. There were never more than two students per microscope. The instructors were all experts in their fields and very approachable. The atmosphere at Asylum was relaxed and fun, making the class extremely enjoyable. Oh, I should also mention that they fed us really well!" Fettah Kosar, Technical Manager, Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard University |
“Thank you so much for your hospitality during the Summer 2011 Nanomechanics Class. Your technical knowledge and abilities are staggering. You guys are wicked smart! The icing on the cake is that every single person I encountered at Asylum was helpful, gracious, and friendly. From lunch on the bluffs to the networking events, everyone was welcoming and professional. Thank you!” Robin Kalinich, Sandia National Labs |
“You all did a remarkable job in all areas! I am especially grateful for your sincere willingness to help each of us and the time and energy you spent with me to help, explain, guide and think together about my results. But above all you shared with us your love of the AFM, which couldn’t possibly be ignored, and gave us an insight into a very special company.” Yael Dror, Oxford University |
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“Very well organized and a great value. There was almost a one-to-one ratio of instructors to students and ample hands-on experience with six AFMs for nine students!” Bernard Lim, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
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“I had a really good time and learned a lot at the bioclass and also the demo. I have already convinced my lab mates to attend the next bio class. Thanks again for your hard work in organizing everything.” Calvin Chu, University of Miami |
“It was such a wonderful experience at AR! Many thanks again for all the help and courtesy extended to me. I will for sure send my students to future Asylum Bio classes.” Xiaohui (Frank) Zhang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai |
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“Thanks again for a great course, it really was very useful and gave us all some valuable information!” Flame Burgmann, CSIRO, Australia |
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"The open source nature of the Asylum Research software combined with the powerful data analysis framework of Igor Pro has enabled unprecedented flexibility in both data collection and analysis within the Jarvis group. The ability to apply custom control routines has allowed us to develop a number of bespoke online experiments including realtime thermal Z drift correction for constant indentation depth force curves, and synchronisation routines that allow the triggered capture of confocal images when performing cell indentations at a specified depth and/or force. We have also been able to develop an array of custom offline data analysis packages within the group which have extend our capabilities to include blind tip reconstruction, quantitative frequency modulation (FM) data analysis, and automated analysis of cell mechanics indentation data.” Jason Kilpatrick, Jarvis Group, Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Ireland |
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Asylum Research •
6310 Hollister Ave. •
Santa Barbara, CA 93117 •
888-472-2795 •
805-696-6466 voice •
805-696-6444 fax •
info@AsylumResearch.com
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"Many companies say they provide great service and support, but consistently fail to do so. Asylum Research, on the other hand, proves every day how much they care about their customers by providing the best service and support in the industry. Truly exceptional.”
"Working with the Asylum Research support team is like having an additional bio-AFM specialist on our staff”.
"AR’s MFP-3D works great for us, not just its superior quality and capabilities on PFM, but the MFP-3D also has unique capabilities on c-AFM, KPFM, MFM, as well as numerous accessories such as for controlling temperature, sample environment and high voltage. I have found the machine is easy to learn, to operate and maintain. The Asylum Research technical support is also great; we always can get our problems solved very quickly."
“As soon as I saw the manual approach system, and the analogue hamster wheel for software adjustments, it occurred to me that here was an instrument designed by people who think much like I do. It’s really well thought out and nicely put together – it’s clearly built to last and has a quality feel to it. The software is phenomenal, it’s completely customisable. The MacroBuilder facility is a particular highlight for me – and should you wish to do something a bit unusual there is usually a script that can sort you out. If you can’t figure it out yourself the guys at Asylum are only too willing to help.”
"I have been using the Asylum Research MFP-3D-BIO AFM for the last 5 years and I must say that the equipment is a treasure from all points of view. It is versatile, has powerful capabilities and high precision which along with excellent service it makes everyone’s life in the lab easier. The Innovation Group, the Australian representatives of Asylum Research, helped us twice in the past year in regards with our MFP-3D-BIO system. I was amazed how quickly they identified the issues and the damaged components of our machine. Then it was really remarkable how prompt the American team in Santa Barbara brought back to life our equipment. Thank you both, Innovation Group and Asylum Research!!! You have a very happy customer here at the University of Queensland."
"I have to mention to you that the Asylum MFP-3D AFM is the best investment I have ever made. It is used extensively in my lab to probe functional materials, and helped us to secure several projects. It also played a key role in my student's successful fellowship application. I cannot say enough about my appreciation of all your help and your great microscope." 
“We chose Asylum’s MFP-3D AFM because we found it to be the most powerful and easy to use AFM available. It is the only system capable of imaging complex samples with very rough topographies at the nanoscale, and we were impressed by its excellent optics for locating areas of interest for AFM scanning. Sample loading and unloading and tip exchange are faster and more intuitive, and the post-data collection processing capabilities are clearly superior. We are excited about applying the MFP-3D to our nanotoxicology research initially and to other Museum studies in the near future.”
"The customizability of the MFP-3D and Asylum's support were critical to the success of the experiments that got me tenure."
“I spent five years as a post-doc using an MFP-3D, so when I started my own lab at Brown, it was an easy decision to choose the MFP-3D-BIO because I knew I’d get a high-quality, versatile device along with Asylum Research’s outstanding customer service.”
“The MFP has worked great for us. I’ve used (most other AFM brands) and have found the MFP to be superior for force measurements to all of them. The machine is extremely easy to learn how to use. I have undergrads working on it with no problem. The instrument support is fantastic as well.”
“I am very happy with my choice of AFM. Asylum support is amazing. You can talk directly to the scientists/engineers – there is no barrier. Definitely if I were going to buy another AFM it would be an Asylum.”
"The MFP-3D is a great system, easy to learn for a beginner and fantastic capabilities for an expert user. The system is continuously evolving as new and exciting features are added. It truly unleashes the creativity of the user. Plus the Asylum team provides the most amazing customer support I have ever seen, including direct and stimulating interaction with their research scientists and applications experts."
“I'm afraid I'm turning into a bit of an Asylum fanatic. I think one of the substantial strengths of Asylum, and the factor that ultimately led me to choose the MFP-3D over all other competitive systems, is the network of skilled scientists Asylum provides for support and feedback. In addition to providing excellent customer support on the "easier" problems, Asylum scientists provide you with, essentially, extended research services to help you develop new capabilities and to work with you to charter new territory. For an industrial company like us where we don't have a lot of other groups working in the same research area or a bunch of professors/students we can tap into for help, that kind of community is essential. The instrument is even better once you start playing with it than from the demo. My other complexity is I'm not sure I can go back to using the (competitor’s system) now..."
"The MFP-3D-BIO is a research instrument through and through and designed for the scientist. The optical integration is exceptional, and the flexibility of the platform offers almost endless possibilities."
"We chose Asylum's MFP-3D-BIO AFM because it has the most powerful AFM capabilities of the inverted optical integrated systems - and we have not been disappointed. It excels in all aspects, from optical integration to high-resolution imaging and dimensional measurements to force spectroscopy and elasticity measurements of soft tissue matrices. We were also among the first few Asylum customers ten years ago with the MFP-1D, and we still abuse it! Asylum's quality and reliability allow us to focus on the science."
“Our MFP-3D is a highly reliable and key tool in our NanoImaging Core Facility and is used heavily both locally and for our national and international collaborations. In addition to “traditional” imaging in air, it has outstanding capabilities for imaging in liquid and performing reliable and accurate force measurements. The simplicity of the software allows us to easily train students, yet the open setup of the instrument makes it flexible and powerful for very high-end scientific projects, including nanolithography and nanomanipulation.”
“Cypher is by far the best, most stable and most configurable AFM I have ever used.”
“Cypheris one fantastic AFM. It sets the standard for both resolution and ease of use. It makes routine characterization easy and opens many possibilities for high resolution imaging. We're really excited to have this instrument in our lab.”