Related papers: High resolution miniature dilatometer based on AFM…
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) allows to reconstruct the topography of surface with a resolution in the nanometer range. The exceptional resolution attainable with the AFM makes this instrument a key tool in nanoscience and technology. The…
We report the realization of an advanced technique for measuring relative length changes $\Delta L/L$ of mm-sized samples under control of temperature ($T$) and helium-gas pressure ($P$). The system, which is an extension of the apparatus…
Optical beam deflection is a popular method to measure the deformation of micromechanical devices. As it measures mostly a local slope, its sensitivity depends on the location and size of the optical spot. We present a method to evaluate…
Polymeric materials are widely used in industries ranging from automotive to biomedical. Their mechanical properties play a crucial role in their application and function and arise from the nanoscale structures and interactions of their…
Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectroscopy of defect-rich semiconductors is being increasingly exploited for realising a variety of practical quantum sensing devices. A prime example is the on-going development of compact…
In most systems, thermal diffusion is intrinsically slow with respect to mechanical relaxation. We devise here a generic approach to accelerate the relaxation of the temperature field of a 1D object, in order to beat the mechanical time…
Contact Resonance Force Microscopy (CR-FM) is a leading AFM technique for measuring viscoelastic nano-mechanical properties. Conventional piezo-excited CR-FM measurements have been limited to imaging in air, since the "forest of peaks"…
A specific heat measuring instrument, with the capacity for the application of magnetic fields up to 9 Tesla, resorting to microcalorimetry chips from the company Xensor Integration, has been successfully assembled and its functioning…
We have built and tested a compact, low-cost, but very-high-performance astronomical polarimeter based on a continuously rotating half-wave plate and a high-speed imaging detector. The polarimeter is suitable for small telescopes up to ~1 m…
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a versatile nanoscale imaging technique. Since its spatiotemporal resolution is fundamentally limited by the minimum detectable force (MDF) arising from system noise, a deep understanding of MDF is essential…
The functionalization of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) cantilever with a colloidal bead is a widely used technique when the geometry between the probe and the sample must be controlled, particularly in force spectroscopy. But some…
A method to precisely calibrate the oscillation amplitude in Dynamic Scanning Force Microscopy is described. It is experimentally shown that a typical electronics used to process the dynamic motion of the cantilever can be adjusted to…
When heated, micro-resonators present a shift of their resonance frequencies. We study specifically silicon cantilevers heated locally by laser absorption, and evaluate theoretically and experimentally their temperature profile and its…
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) allows to probe matter at atomic scale by measuring the perturbation of a nanomechanical oscillator induced by near-field interaction forces. The quest to improve sensitivity and resolution of AFM has forced…
The wide range of interesting electromagnetic behavior of contemporary materials requires that experimentalists working in this field master many diverse measurement techniques and have a broad understanding of condensed matter physics and…
The flexible capacitive pressure sensors are one of the most essential and famous devices with vast applications in automobile, aerospace, marine, healthcare, wearables, consumer, and portable electronics. The fabrication of pressure…
A dual-excitation method for resonant-frequency tracking in scanning probe microscopy based on amplitude detection is developed. This method allows the cantilever to be operated at or near resonance for techniques where standard phase…
Heat transport in low-dimensional solids can significantly differ from their bulk counterpart due to various size-related effects. This offers rich heat transport phenomena to emerge. However, finding an appropriate thermometry method for…
Atomic Force Microscopy with SideWall (AFM SW) is widely used for nano-scale surface measurements at side surfaces. In the current study, by taking into consideration the effects of sidewall beam and its probe, an analytical method is…
We present a micro-mechanical terahertz (THz) detector fabricated on a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate and operating at room-temperature. The device is based on a U-shaped cantilever of micrometric size, on top of which two aluminum…