TipTek’s mission is to create needles and tips that provide superior tip-surface contacts. Its probes and needles give high resolution, long life, and robust tip-surface interactions in semiconductor fault detection, scanning tunneling microscopy, and atomically precise manufacturing.
Tiptek manufactures hard, conductive, and ultra-sharp probes with Field Directed Sputter Sharpening (FDSS). The probes are used for scanning probe microscopy, transfer of lamella formed by focused ion beams (FIB), and scanning electron microscope-based nanoprobes used in semiconductor failure analysis. The proprietary FDSS process developed by Tiptek co-founders sharpens the probe tip to atomic dimensions in a self-limiting fashion that does not require skilled operator intervention. The resulting probe tips give excellent high resolution over long periods of time, making them the standard for commercial and research customers.
Tiptek, LLC was formed in 2011 by University of Illinois alumnus Scott Lockledge, Illinois Assistant Professor Joseph Lyding, and Professor Gregory Girolam. It opened its office in EnterpriseWorks in 2013.
TipTek at Research Park
- TipTek Featured in IntersectIllinois Article
- Tiptek Named 2022 SBIR/STTR Small Business of the Year by U.S. Department of Energy
Intern Awards