Introduction
All AFM users MUST receive introductory training on any system before using it. Current users must not train new users. Please see the training link for further information.
Before training commences the PI for the user must sign the AFM user agreement form and the user must also undertake the LCN health and safety course which is run every Tuesday at 10am for approximately 1.5 hours. The AFM facility manager can register new users to the health and safety course. Once the course is finished the user will have access to the front door of the building but not to the AFM lab. Once satisfactory training on the AFM has taken place, the user will be asked to read and sign off the instrument risk assessment where upon he/she will be given lab and booking system access. Additional risk assessment may be required depending on the sample properties, for example GM organisms. It is the user and the PI's responsibility to ensure that a RiskNet form has been completed, assessed and approved before ANY work can commence on the AFM systems. GM forms in particular take many weeks before approval is given.
General safety rules
The following safety rules apply to the AFM labs:
- Eating and drinking is not allowed in any of the AFM rooms
- Lab coats and gloves do not need to be worn unless handling viable biological specimens
- Slides, coverslips, tips and other sharps must be disposed of in the yellow sharps bins
- Gloves, tissues and other clinical waste must be disposed of in the yellow bins. DO NOT use the yellow bins for viable biological waste, liquids, food waste, slides and other sharps.
- All biological waste (e.g. viable cells in dishes or plates) must be taken out of the AFM labs, decontaminated and disposed of.
- Any spills of biological material must be cleaned up and decontaminated immediately. Aqueous medium must be mopped up with towels and decontaminated using 70% IMS.
- Spills of aqueous medium directly onto microscope optics or components must be reported immediately. Do not attempt to clean microscope optics yourself unless you have been trained to do so.
- Any coverslips and slides broken on the microscope must be removed and disposed of in the sharps bin. All small pieces of glass must be removed during the clean-up so there is no risk of injury to other users.
- Anything brought into the AFM labs must be taken away when the session is finished. Anything left behind will be disposed of. It is not our responsibility to keep your samples.
- Do not tamper with any of the cables between the controller and the microscope or the computer and the controller
- Do not shine the AFM laser in your eyes or direct it at other users (laser power is class 2M or 3R depending on the system)
- Make sure the Z scanner is only plugged or unplugged when the high voltage is off on the Dimension FastScan
Rules for the Nanowizard, CellHesion and Ultra Speed systems
- Make sure both sides of the glass block are clean before you mount cantilevers. These can be cleaned with lens tissue and pure ethanol. If the glass block is heavily contaminated, it can be sonicated in the floating rack which is shown here.
- Do not put the glass block down on the bench, it will scratch the surface, please use the holder.
- Do not use highly acidic or basic buffers (<pH 4.6, >pH 9.0). This will cause a white deposit to appear on the surface of the glass block which cannot be removed.
- Do not overwind the laser or photodetector alignment screws. If they reach the end points do not turn any further.
- Make sure the laser is turned off before looking down the eyepieces of the microscope. An IR filter is in place in front of the eyepieces, but its best practice to make sure the laser is turned off.
- When approaching the sample, take great care in your course step size. It is very easy to crash into the surface which at worst could damage the piezo stack on the instrument.