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Hardware components needed to implement the lifeProcessor program running on the DSP in the lifeScan Workstation are housed together here. |
AD/DA Conversions
The Controller Module hardware converts signals from the AFM proper so they are intelligible to the lifeProcessor program on the DSP. Most importantly the cantilever deflection signal (analog volts) is converted to digital and transmitted to the DSP.
For information flow in the opposite direction, the Controller converts digital signals from the lifeProcessor program to analog voltage that drive the fast and slow scan of the specimen piezo and most importantly its vertical (Z) displacement.
The Controller also converts a digital ramp generated by the program to an analog current ramp which unbinds the tip. The current flows in a small coil mounted on the fluid cell of the microscope, creating a magnetic field that acts on a permanent magnetic particle fixed to the cantilever.
Power Supplies
The Controller also contains power supplies for both low-voltage information handling electronics and the high voltages (up to +/- 200V) required for piezo drive provides program control and program sensing of the cantilever base and tip at micro time slices throughout the entire advance/single touch/magnetic withdraw cycle at every pixel. It executes on a DSP computer on an installed card in the lifeScan Workstation.
Signal Access
On the front panel are BNC connectors for monitoring key signals and for user-determined experimental applications---examples are pulses at the start of new lines and new fields.
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