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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

BSU prof wins grant for novel new scanning microscope

A BSU associate professor of physics, Byung Kim, has been awarded a three-year, $240,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for his novel scanning probe microscope. “It will be the first instrument of its kind in the world,” said Kim. The Korean-born BSU professor has been working on the concept for five years, and recently published a paper about his work in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

The instrument is called a “cantilever based optical interfacial force microscope,” or COIFM. It's a radically new twist on interfacial force microscopes that were invented in the 1990s.

“The original tool is innovative, but it is limited to measuring the interaction of a huge number of molecules," Kim explained. "COIFM’s single molecular measurements will provide a better understanding of intermolecular interactions, which could lead to the development of drugs and other biomedical applications.” The BSU prof has involved undergraduate student researchers in his work.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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