Probing the Mechanics of Crumpled Graphene Membranes under Tensile Loading: An Experimental Study

Graphene is considered a promising material due to its unique electrical characteristics and excellent mechanical properties. These extraordinary properties make graphene a suitable material for applications like mechanical reinforcements, protective coatings, supercapacitors, sensors, etc. However, when trying to extract these properties...

Scanning Probe Microscopy Facility for Operando Study of Redox Processes on Lithium ion Battery Electrodes

An Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is combined with a special designed glovebox system and coupled to a Galvanostat/Potentiostat to allow measurements on electrochemical properties for battery research. An open cell design with electrical contacts makes it possible to reach the electrode surface with the cantilever so as to perform measurements...

Design of a Setup for Modal Testing of Micro-Cantilevers Immersed in Liquid

To facilitate research on the dynamics of micro-cantilevers immersed in liquid, a modal test setup was designed. Modal testing is a powerful form of dynamic testing whereby the system's natural frequencies, modal masses, modal damping ratios, mode shapes, and weight of each of these modes at a certain frequency are determined. Micro-cantilever...

Identification of Probe of an Atomic Force Microscope Using Curve Fitting

<br/>In recent years the Tapping Mode-Atomic Force Microscope (TM-AFM) has become one of the most important tools for imaging on the nanometer scale. In comparison with other contemporary technologies, the AFMs have been able to obtain atomic resolution both in high vacuum and liquid environments thus affirming their supremacy. The AFM can be...

A model for controlled dosing of femto-litre volume liquids using hollow microcantilever

A hollow microcantilever is used instead of a conventional microcantilever to dispense and aspirate liquids in the femto-litre (10^-15 L) volume range in an atomic force microscope (AFM) setup. The inherent force sensing capability of the cantilever is used to monitor the fluid manipulation in-situ. At this small scale, parameters...

In situ Stiffness adjustment of AFM probes by two orders of magnitude

The choice on which type of cantilever to use for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) depends on the type of the experiment being done. Typically, the cantilever has to be exchanged when a different stiffness is required and the entire alignment has to be repeated. In the present work, a method to adjust the stiffness in situ of a commercial AFM...

Helium ion beam induced growth of hammerhead AFM probes

The authors report the direct-write growth of hammerhead atomic force microscope(AFM) probes by He+beam induced deposition of platinum-carbon. In order to grow a thin nanoneedle on top of a conventional AFM probe, the authors move a focused He+beam during exposure to a PtC precursor gas. In the final growth stage, a perpendicular movement of the...

Nano-Workbench: A Combined Hollow AFM Cantilever and Robotic Manipulator

To manipulate liquid matter at the nanometer scale, we have developed a robotic assembly equipped with a hollow atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever that can handle femtolitre volumes of liquid. The assembly consists of four independent robots, each sugar cube sized with four degrees of freedom. All robots are placed on a single platform...

A miniaturized, high frequency mechanical scanner for high speed atomic force microscope using suspension on dynamically determined points

One of the major limitations in the speed of the atomic force microscope (AFM) is the bandwidth of the mechanical scanning stage, especially in the vertical (z) direction. According to the design principles of “light and stiff” and “static determinacy,” the bandwidth of the mechanical scanner is limited by the first eigenfrequency of the AFM...

Scanning Probe Microscope-Based Fluid Dispensing

Advances in micro and nano fabrication technologies have enabled fabrication of smaller and more sensitive devices for applications not only in solid-state physics but also in medicine and biology. The demand for devices that can precisely transport material, specifically fluids are continuously increasing. Therefore, integration of various...

Temperature induced healing in strained bituminous materials observed by atomic force microscopy

Bitumen is the binder in the composite material named asphalt concrete. Under cyclic mechanical loading of traffic passing over the pavement, eventually damage will initiate in the pavement, leading to eventual structural failure. This damaging process is accelerated by time dependent change of the mechanical properties of asphalt concrete due...

Temperature induced healing in strained bituminous materials observed by atomic force microscopy

Bitumen is the binder in the composite material named asphalt concrete. Under cyclic mechanical loading of traffic passing over the pavement, eventually damage will initiate in the pavement, leading to eventual structural failure. This damaging process is accelerated by time dependent change of the mechanical properties of asphalt concrete due...

Piezoresistive Probe Array for High Throughput Applications

Microcantilevers are used in a number of applications including atomic-force microscopy (AFM). In this work, piezoresistive deflection-sensing elements are integrated onto micromachined cantilevers to increase sensitivity, and reduce complexity and cost. An array of probes with 5 nm gold ultrathin film sensors on silicon substrates for high...

Charge inversion and DNA condensation by multivalent ions

Screening of charged particles by mobile ions in electrolytes is a major focus of such diverse fields as polymer physics, nanofluidics, colloid science, and biophysics. Yet the physics often remains poorly understood. Here we focus on two counterintuitive phenomena induced by multivalent counterions: charge inversion and DNA condensation.