Search results for " Atomic Force Microscopy"
showing 10 items of 56 documents
Tuning molecular self-assembly on bulk insulator surfaces by anchoring of the organic building blocks.
2013
Molecular self-assembly constitutes a versatile strategy for creating functional structures on surfaces. Tuning the subtle balance between intermolecular and molecule-surface interactions allows structure formation to be tailored at the single-molecule level. While metal surfaces usually exhibit interaction strengths in an energy range that favors molecular self-assembly, dielectric surfaces having low surface energies often lack sufficient interactions with adsorbed molecules. As a consequence, application-relevant, bulk insulating materials pose significant challenges when considering them as supporting substrates for molecular self-assembly. Here, the current status of molecular self-ass…
Lateral force microscopy of multiwalled carbon nanotubes
2009
Carbon nanotubes are usually imaged with the atomic force microscope (AFM) in non-contact mode. However, in many applications, such as mechanical manipulation or elasticity measurements, contact mode is used. The forces affecting the nanotube are then considerable and not fully understood. In this work lateral forces were measured during contact mode imaging with an AFM across a carbon nanotube. We found that, qualitatively, both magnitude and sign of the lateral forces to the AFM tip were independent of scan direction and can be concluded to arise from the tip slipping on the round edges of the nanotube. The dependence on the normal force applied to the tip and on the ratio between nanotub…
Smooth crack-free targets for nuclear applications produced by molecular plating
2013
The production process of smooth and crack-free targets by means of constant current electrolysis in organic media, commonly known as molecular plating, was optimized. Using a Nd salt, i.e., [Nd(NO3)(3)center dot 6H(2)O], as model electrolyte several constant current density electrolysis experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of different parameters, namely the plating solvent (isopropanol and isobutanol mixed together, pyridine, and N,N-dimethylformamide), the electrolyte concentration (0.11, 0.22, 0.44 mM), the applied current density (0.17, 0.3, 0.7, and 1.3 mA/cm(2)), and the surface roughness of the deposition substrates (12 and 24 nm). Different environments (air and …
Mechanical and electroconductive properties of spatially distributed double stranded DNA arrays on Au (111)
2008
Abstract Conductive AFM was used to investigate electroconductivity through 10 nm long double stranded DNA molecules in mixed monolayers of thioalkylated-DNA and mercaptohexanol (MCH) on Au (111) surface. The distribution of DNA molecules on the surface was analyzed by tapping mode AFM. Measurements performed in lift mode confirmed that the DNA molecules protrude from the surface rather than lie horizontally adsorbed on the interface. The optimal conductivity measurement time, which is shorter than the mechanical relaxation time of oligonucleotide duplexes, was determined. It was concluded that oligonucleotide duplexes have a resistance of the order of ~ 2 Ω ⁎ m at 1 V.
Formation and evolution of self-organized Au nanorings on indium-tin-oxide surface
2011
This work reports on the formation of Au nanoclusters and on their evolution in nanoring structures on indium-tin-oxide surface by sputtering deposition and annealing processes. The quantification of the characteristics of the nanorings (surface density, depth, height, and width) is performed by atomic force microscopy. The possibility to control these characteristics by tuning annealing temperature and time is demonstrated establishing relations which allow to set the process parameters to obtain nanostructures of desired morphological properties for various technological applications. © 2011 American Institute of Physics.
Electronic and mechanical characterization of self-assembled alkanethiol monolayers by scanning tunneling microscopy combined with interaction-force-…
1993
We have used scanning tunneling microscopy to study self-assembled monolayers of mercaptohexadecanol in ultrigh vacuum. In addition to tunneling, the interaction force gradient acting between tip and sample was measured. Analysis of the force-gradient data shows that the tip is in mechanical contact with the surface of the monolayer which, in turn, is elastically compressed. The lateral dimensions of the mechanical contact are substantially (approximately five times) larger than the width of the tunneling-current filament. The results suggest that the compression of the monolayer constitutes an integral part of tunneling through the molecules
<title>Scanning probe microscopy of nanocrystalline iridium oxide thin films</title>
2003
Structural investigations of nanocrystalline iridium oxide thin films, prepared by dc magnetron sputtering technique were performed by scanning probe microscopy (SPM). SPM studies, using both atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), indicate that the thin films are composed of grains with a size of about 20-50 nm. Fine crystallinity and small RMS microroughness of the films, being well below 2 nm, make iridium oxide thin films promising candidates for nanolithographic applications. The possibility to perform nanolithograhpic processes at a scale of less than 150 nm was successfully examined in AFM and STM modes.© (2003) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Societ…
Thickness measurement of soft thin films on periodically patterned magnetic substrates by phase difference magnetic force microscopy
2013
The need for accurate measurement of the thickness of soft thin films is continuously encouraging the development of techniques suitable for this purpose. We propose a method through which the thickness of the film is deduced from the quantitative measurement of the contrast in the phase images of the sample surface acquired by magnetic force microscopy, provided that the film is deposited on a periodically patterned magnetic substrate. The technique is demonstrated by means of magnetic substrates obtained from standard floppy disks. Colonies of Staphylococcus aureus adherent to such substrates were used to obtain soft layers with limited lateral (a levy microns) and vertical (hundreds of n…
Study of the dynamics of biomolecules by high speed atomic force microscopy and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy
2015
This thesis focuses on the coupling of High–Speed Atomic Force Microscopy (HS-AFM) and Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) for biomolecule analysis. We have designed a fabrication protocol to manufacture “SERS-active” substrates. The efficacy of gold, silver and gold-silver bimetallic crystalline nanoparticle substrates were evaluated. We have investigated the impact of optical and morphological features of the substrates on Raman signal intensity by analyzing well-known samples such as bipyridine ethylene and methylene blue molecules. We took an interest in three distinct biological problematics with HS-AFM and SERS analyses. First, we have detected the chemical signature of cytochr…
Applications and development of acoustic and microwave atomic force microscopy for high resolution tomography analysis
2016
The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a powerful tool for the characterization of organic and inorganic materials of interest in physics, biology and metallurgy. However, conventional scanning probe microscopy techniques are limited to the probing surface properties, while the subsurface analysis remains difficult beyond nanoindentation methods. Thus, the present thesis is focused on two novel complementary scanning probe techniques for high-resolution volumetric investigation that were develop to tackle this persisting challenge in nanometrology.The first technique considered, called Mode Synthesizing Atomic Force Microscopy (MSAFM), has been exploited in collaboration with Dr. Laurene Teta…