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A 2022 research team reported building a high-speed atomic force microscope setup for $3,963 in hardware and capturing a 512 × 512-pixel image across a 46.3 × 46.3 µm² field in 9.3 seconds. The result came from an open-source controller designed to upgrade a commercial simplified AFM—not from a complete microscope whose current retail price is guaranteed to be under $4,000.
What the $3,963 figure covers
The figure comes from the specification table in a paper by Liao and colleagues, published in HardwareX on July 25, 2022. The paper describes a reported hardware cost of $3,963; its abstract characterizes the system as costing less than $4,000. Treat it as the researchers’ build cost at the time, not a current quote, a guaranteed turnkey price, or a promise that all parts remain available at the same cost. The open-access paper lists the project’s license as CC BY-SA 4.0.
The key distinction is what was open: the researchers published the controller design and LabVIEW code, and used them with a commercial simplified AFM platform, the Strømlingo DIY AFM. The reported price therefore describes their hardware build, not an assurance that anyone can buy a complete instrument today for that amount.
How the microscope and controller work
An atomic force microscope (AFM) forms an image by tracking how a fine probe interacts with a surface. In this build, a DVD optical pickup unit monitors deflection of the probe’s cantilever, while a scanner built around piezoelectric buzzers moves the sample in two directions. A flexible, cage-like support helps isolate the base from external vibration.
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The controller is based on a National Instruments myRIO-1900 embedded FPGA device and LabVIEW code. A buffer circuit amplifies the controller’s scan signals so they can drive the scanner. The controller upgrade is the project’s central contribution: it changes how the simplified AFM scans, rather than replacing every component with a newly designed microscope.
Why use a sinusoidal scan?
In conventional zig-zag raster scanning, the scanner abruptly reverses direction at the end of each line, which can produce unwanted oscillation. The researchers used a sinusoidal signal on the fast scan axis to avoid that abrupt reversal. Because a sinusoid moves at different speeds at different points in its cycle, the controller samples the focus-error signal at non-uniform time intervals. That compensates for the changing speed so samples remain separated by a constant displacement.
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How fast it scanned—and what the image size means
In the paper’s reported comparison, the simplified AFM’s original controller scanned at 0.6 lines per second. With the open-source controller, the scan rate rose to 55 lines per second. The faster setup also produced a larger image, so its greater pixel count should not be mistaken for finer sampling per pixel.
| Reported measure | Simplified AFM controller | Open-source controller |
|---|---|---|
| Scan rate | 0.6 lines/s | 55 lines/s |
| Image time | 426.6 seconds | 9.3 seconds |
| Scan field | 23 × 23 µm² | 46.3 × 46.3 µm² |
| Pixel grid | 256 × 256 | 512 × 512 |
| Approximate sampling interval per pixel | About 89.8 × 89.8 nm² | About 90.4 × 90.4 nm² |
The pixel intervals above are calculated from the reported field width divided by the number of pixels on each side. Although the newer image has twice as many pixels per side, it covers roughly twice the width, leaving the lateral sampling interval similar. A 512-pixel-wide image here does not mean 512 nanometers of resolution.
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The authors also report a maximum tip-sample velocity of 5,093 µm/s in the paper’s abstract and conclusion. That is a reported maximum, while the most directly comparable performance measures for readers are the scan rate and the time needed to acquire an image. The paper identifies a 55 Hz scanner resonance as the factor limiting further speed increases.
Can it measure skin nanotexture?
The researchers demonstrated the instrument by imaging nanotextures on human skin corneocytes, cells from the outermost skin layer. They showed example measurements from a healthy-control sample and an atopic-dermatitis lesion sample, and used an image-analysis approach to calculate a DTI value. In the paper’s examples, the healthy-control corneocyte scored 65 and the lesion example scored 332.
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Those two values illustrate the study’s analysis; they are not population-level diagnostic statistics. The work presents a research demonstration related to skin-barrier assessment, not evidence that the AFM is a clinically approved diagnostic or an independently validated test.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What replication involves
The published setup depends on more than its controller files. The paper describes a particular simplified AFM platform, a probe, a scanner, signal-buffer electronics, calibration, and careful hands-on alignment and approach to the sample. Its repository provides the design files and LabVIEW source code, but readers should check the files and component requirements before assuming the reported cost or performance can be reproduced with different hardware. The OSF repository is identified by the paper as the location for the project files.
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Calibration and sample handling
For scanner calibration, the team used a small sample cut from the data-track layer of a rewritable DVD, relying on known track spacing and depth as references. For imaging, they used DC-mode probes with a reported spring constant of 0.03 N/m and processed data with Gwyddion, free data-analysis software. The manual covers probe installation, laser focusing, sample placement, sensitivity checks, and a careful manual approach to the sample.
The reported corneocyte work used constant-height DC mode, which the paper describes as suited to relatively large, flat samples with height differences below 3 µm. That operating range is a meaningful constraint: the published speed should not be read as a demonstrated rate for arbitrary biological samples or surfaces with greater height variation.
What the project establishes—and what it does not
- It establishes a reported build and performance demonstration: the 2022 paper documents a $3,963 hardware cost, a 55-lines/s scan rate, and a 512 × 512 image over 46.3 × 46.3 µm² in 9.3 seconds.
- It demonstrates a specific application: imaging corneocyte nanotexture and comparing example healthy-control and atopic-dermatitis lesion samples.
- It does not establish present-day pricing or stock: component costs and Strømlingo availability may have changed since publication.
- It does not establish clinical diagnostic performance: the example DTI scores are not sensitivity, specificity, or clinical validation results.
- It does not establish universal scan performance: the results depend on the described instrument, sample conditions, and DC-mode operating range.
The researchers’ conclusion says the open-source controller transforms a low-cost simplified AFM into a high-speed AFM with a tip-sample velocity of 5,093 µm/s. The significance is the documented controller-driven speed-up and larger-area imaging on this platform, rather than a claim that every inexpensive AFM can achieve the same results.
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