Interrogating and manipulating at the nanometre scale — From scientific instrumentation to industrial applications

Microfabricated instruments featuring functional elements at the nanometre scale are ideally suited to interrogate and manipulate objects in the small domain. This ability would also be attractive and open new opportunities for industrial applications. However, robustness of the instrument and their currently low throughput are considered as almost insurmountable obstacles for a successful implementation in many commercial fields. Here, scientific instrumentation in harsh, demanding environments can play a pivotal role in validating the concept and demonstrating the reliability of the instrument. This is highlighted in two examples, one in medicine and one in planetary science.