History
Q-Sense was founded in 1996 by a group of researchers at the Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. There, QCM-related research had been ongoing since the 1970s. The research group discovered and patented (in 1995) a whole new way of extracting mass and viscosity parameters for surface analysis in liquid, based on analyzing the dissipation of the oscillating sensor. The new technique was called QCM-D (Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring). By measuring both the dissipation (D) factor and the frequency (f), it became possible to analyze the entire chain of reactions that occur when a new substance is introduced to the surface of the quartz crystal.
At the beginning of 1998, the company began to develop its first commercial product, which resulted in the Q-Sense D300 system, the world’s first multi-frequency QCM-D instrument measuring the viscoelastic properties of adsorbing layers in liquid. This product has now been replaced with the second generation system on the market, the Q-Sense E-series.
Q-Sense started as a self-contained company in Gothenburg, Sweden. Today, Q-Sense is a business unit within Biolin Scientific AB with subsidiaries in the U.S. and Asia, and a well-established distributor network in Europe and Asia.
