Neda Azhari, reporter: Usually, any knowledge needs a method or a device to prove its existence in order to be on the right track. In nanotechnology, due to the low scales, very accurate tools are needed to fully identify their accuracy. Many companies claim to make nano materials, but whether these materials really have nano properties is a matter that is measured by special devices and tools, and manufacturers can prove their claims in this field. In this regard, one of the Iranian knowledge-based companies has been operating in the field of producing such devices and microscopes for several years, and a few years ago, it was able to unveil a sample of a three-dimensional microscope and bring it to the commercialization stage.
Detailed investigation of surface physics
Knowledge-based company “Fath Noor Mihan” was founded in 1993 and was first established in the growth center of Zanjan University of Basic Sciences. After passing the pre-growth stage, this company entered the science and technology park. Hadi Barzoui, the CEO of the knowledge-based company “Fateh Noor Mihan”, who himself has a bachelor’s degree in physics, a master’s degree in lasers and optics, said in an interview with “Fahrikhtegan”: “The device we have produced is a “3D interferometric microscope”, which is contracted in In 1995, based on an industrial contract, it was concluded in one of the government departments and we started working on its construction. After some time, we produced a sample of it. The developed sample of this microscope is used to measure the structure, surface physics, micro and nano parts, etc. For example, the microchannels that are made for drug delivery have dimensions as small as 20 microns, but the surface roughness must be measured and measured with nanometer precision. What we have done is that we have been working on a cardiac stent (a spring that is placed inside the heart) for some time. The material used in the production of this spring must be processed in such a way that red blood cells do not get trapped inside the fine structures of this surface, and in other words, blood clots do not occur.
The director of this knowledge-based company says: “We have processed this surface with the knowledge of nanotechnology. In order to see that the produced surface has the same surface physics characteristics that we wanted, we need to have a tool that can measure the 3D of the surface with 200 microns of height change at one millimeter by one millimeter dimensions with nanometer accuracy. This device helps the activists in this field to measure the 3D of the surface with nano precision. This device is mostly used in microelectronics, micromechanics, nanomedicine and surface physics industries, and in other words, every person who deals with nano fields such as nanomaterials, nanomechanics, biotechnology and nanophysics and intends to connect to nano from his field, to prove Claiming that something is nanometer should use a device that has good magnification to cover the entire surface. “The best device to show this magnification is a microscope, and in this case, such a microscope should have the ability to display three dimensions.”
Barzoui points out: “This microscope that we have produced, due to the laser that we have mounted on it, has provided us with the possibility of 3D observation of the device. The height accuracy of this device is 1 nanometer and its lateral accuracy is 400 nanometers, which is also limited by the physics of light, which the nature of light has created for us, otherwise we could go beyond this.
Similar devices exist but are not competitive
She continues: “In 1993 and when we started our activity in the manufacture of such a device, there was no domestic example in the country, but now, by observing the market and considering the popularity of this product, and fortunately considering that in Inside the country, we have many scientists and researchers who have basic knowledge and are literate in this work, they have identified this market and for a year or two there have been samples that, it is true, cannot compete with our device at the moment, but it is expected that they will be able to in the coming years. become a competitive device for our product. The problem is that the alarm has sounded for us and we have to think about upgrading this product so that we can compete with similar devices in the coming years.”
Along with 3 leading countries in the world
Barzoui states that the “three-dimensional interferometric microscope” was commercialized in 1998. When our first device reached maturity, this product and the domestic company of the contracting party passed all the required standards and its commercial production began. This 3D microscope device has a foreign sample, and Japan, America and Germany are the only countries that are pioneers in this industry and have produced a commercial sample of this product. Of course, the main industry of producing these devices is in the hands of Germans. When we claim that we want to compete with other countries in the world in the field of nano, in addition to producing nano products, we must also be able to test and measure nano and prove that our manufactured products and devices are on the nano scale. Many Iranian research and research centers claim to be nanotechnologists and work in the nano field. It has always been the case that first the craftsman and the scientist produce the nano and then they find the need for the identification device. One of the nano scale identification devices is this microscope, which almost all nano activists will need.
We accepted the price risk of one-fifth of the foreign sample
According to this researcher and nano activist, as far as we know, we have been the only domestic manufacturer of this device. The price of the foreign model of this device is 100 thousand dollars and for the company that entered into a contract with us, we offered one-fifth of the foreign model and this made this company order the device from us and stopped buying the foreign model. This was the risk we took and succeeded in prototyping. Whether it can currently compete with the foreign sample or not, we must obtain the CE standard and after obtaining the European standard, we can compete in the international field. Currently, we have entered this space through a representative in Dubai and a technology company in Turkey, but we have not yet succeeded in selling the product. Of course, serious consultations have been carried out and we have gone to the prototyping stage with a Turkish partner, but the sale has not happened yet.
Barzoui states that this device is one of the so-called end user devices in the world, in the sense that its manufacturers in the world are looking for which country the device they are selling is going to be imported into. When we wanted to start the construction of the device so that we could produce it by observing the device and experiencing the experience, we could not find an imported sample of this microscope in the country, but in these 7 years, various companies have gone to it and currently the sample There is an import of it.
The view of domestic production has not changed yet
The CEO of this knowledge-based company says about the challenges faced by knowledge-based and domestic companies in the production of their products, that we made a microscope for the medical field and moved the French brand from the French product to our product brand. We invited an ophthalmologist to test the device. In the end, she pointed out that the French product has a better performance than the Iranian product. The view of Iranian products has not changed yet, and currently, if government support for domestic products weakens, companies are willing to think for a few years and buy foreign products. In the meantime, we are also responsible for supporting Iranian buyers to assure them that, for example, the product they are buying has a full warranty for up to 10 years and there will be no problems with it. Of course, we have created the confidence for the buyers of the company’s products that we can provide them with after-sales services as long as the buyers need them, and in this way, we have reduced the worries of the buyers so that they can spend with peace of mind on buying Iranian products.
We did not have any government support in the production process
In order to build confidence in Iranian buyers towards the products and productions of domestic companies, he suggests that in this direction, we as craftsmen should fully support our product so that the buyer can be sure that he will never be lame when working with this device. Another part is government support, which should make the product attractive to domestic buyers. As I said, we released this same 3D microscope at our own risk with a fifth of the foreign sample. Our financial base is not so big that we can support ourselves to sell products. If the government wants its research student to stay inside the country, it should move. This device is one of the high-tech devices and senior students have worked on this product. I produced the first sample together with my colleague, but if we are going to produce the next samples of this device and it will create an economic advantage for us, we should be an expert on this device and we should copy the device we have already made. In the process of producing the device, unfortunately, we have not had any government support, and the only support was the support that the Iran-made exhibition had for us, so that with the level one of this 3D microscope, the applicant buyers can enjoy the support of 40% (one third) of the Presidential Vice President for Science and Technology.
Expert manpower has no alternative
She tells the “Educated” about the departure of skilled and efficient workers from the country due to the attractive foreign markets: “We had a colleague who was a doctoral student in the company and we signed a good contract with him and paid him a good salary so that he would remain in the company and he would be given a technology bonus from his years of presence in the company and he could even be a soldier of the same company. get his end of service card, but to some extent, global markets create an attractive environment for domestic researchers and technologists, who left the country with all these privileges and were attracted to another country. This expert force has been with us from the time of production to the maturity of the product, and when it is separated from us and leaves the country, our heart hurts more than if the same device that we have produced with great difficulty falls to the ground and breaks. A device that breaks down is a part that can be replaced but we don’t have the power to replace it. The knowledge she has can create development and creativity to compete with the world’s markets, and only intelligent, elite and skilled human resources can do this. When my manpower leaves the country, I am not able to keep her. Working for such a person is attractive considering the situations they put in front of her, but with the current conditions, staying in the country has no future and credibility for such specialized people, and no one will take these people. We value such expert people in the company, but not all of their lives are in this company. All-round support should be given to them so that these expert forces who shape the future of this country can be kept in the country.