0000000000390446
AUTHOR
Harald Fuchs
Domain Structures in Langmuir-Blodgett Films Investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy
Investigations of phase-separated Langmuir-Blodgett films by atomic force microscopy reveal that on a scale of 30 to 200 micrometers, these images resemble those observed by fluorescence microscopy. Fine structures (less than 1 micrometer) within the stearic acid domains were observed, which cannot be seen by conventional optical microscopic techniques. By applying the force modulation technique, it was found that the elastic properties of the domains in the liquid condensed phase and grains observed within the liquid expanded phase were comparable. Small soft residues in the domains could also be detected. The influence of trace amounts of a fluorescence dye on the micromorphology of monol…
Photoelectropoling of azobenzene chromophores in molecular films
The photoinduced reorientation and photoelectropoling processes were investigated in molecular films of aliphatically substituted azobenzenes. While polarized illumination leads to a conversion of isotropic samples into anisotropic ones, upon application of external electric fields even macroscopically polar materials are created. The macroscopic polarity can be reversed under suitable experimental conditions. Order parameters as a function of the poling field were determined by Stark spectroscopy. Using atomic force microscopy it is shown that the structure of the sample is well defined on a microscopic length scale, whereas on a macroscopic length scale it is not.
Super-Resolution Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy
Scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) is a method to obtain information about the optical properties of a sample at a lateral resolution below the diffraction limit of far-field microscopy. In SNOM, a light source of a dimension which is small compared to the wavelength of light and which is held at a small distance from the sample is scanned across the surface of the sample. The modulation by the sample of the light emitted from the source is recorded as a signal. As a general rule one may say that the size of the source and the distance to the sample limit the resolution of SNOM. A radiating self-emitting point dipole may be regarded as an idealized SNOM source. With such a source…
Imaging of photonic nanopatterns by scanning near-field optical microscopy
We define photonic nanopatterns of a sample as images recorded by scanning near-field optical microscopy with a locally excited electric dipole as a probe. This photonic nanopattern can be calculated by use of the Green’s dyadic technique. Here, we show that scanning near-field optical microscopy images of well-defined gold triangles taken with the tetrahedral tip as a probe show a close similarity to the photonic nanopattern of this nanostructure with an electric dipole at a distance of 15 nm to the sample and tilted 45° with respect to the scanning plane.
Impact of compatible solutes on the mechanical properties of fibronectin: a single molecule analysis
The influence of ectoine and sarcosine on the mechanical properties of surface bound fibronectin has been investigated by means of force microscopy. Single molecule stretching experiments of fibronectin molecules reveal that ectoine and sarcosine increase the tendency of the polypeptide to coil, thus decreasing its apparent persistence length. This behavior can be explained by means of the preferential exclusion model implying that the osmolytes are expelled from the protein surface due to the increase in chemical potential of the denatured, i.e. stretched, state forcing the protein into a more compact structure. Detailed analysis of the unfolding forces, which are extracted from the succes…
Scanning Probe Microscopy Study of the Metal-Rich Layered Chalcogenides TaM2Te2 (M = Co, Ni)
The compounds TaNi2Te2 and TaCo2Te2 have been examined by scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy. The title phases crystallize in layered structures with metal slabs sandwiched by tellurium atoms. Scanning probe microscope images of the surfaces of these materials arise from the surface tellurium atoms anddepending on the experimental conditionscan show very different features. The images have been simulated through surface charge densities calculated within the Extended Huckel and LMTO frameworks.
Photonic nanopatterns of gold nanostructures indicate the excitation of surface plasmon modes of a wavelength of 50-100 nm by scanning near-field optical microscopy
Scanning near-field optical microscopy images of metal nanostructures taken with the tetrahedral tip (T-tip) show a distribution of dark and bright spots at distances in the order of 25-50 nm. The images are interpreted as photonic nanopatterns defined as calculated scanning near-field optical microscopy images using a dipole serving as a light-emitting scanning near-field optical microscopy probe. Changing from a positive to a negative value of the dielectric function of a sample leads to the partition of one spot into several spots in the photonic nanopatterns, indicating the excitation of surface plasmons of a wavelength in the order of 50-100 nm in metal nanostructures.