Related papers: Imaging material properties of biological samples …
A mechanical electroscope based on a change in the resonant frequency of a cantilever one micron in size in the presence of charge has recently been fabricated. We derive the decoherence rate of a charge superposition during measurement…
We consider the effects of a velocity-independent friction force on cantilever damping. It is shown that this dissipation mechanism causes nonlinear effects in the cantilever vibrations. The size of the nonlinearity increases with…
Atomic force spectroscopy and microscopy (AFM) are invaluable tools to characterize nanostructures and biological systems. Most experiments, including state-of-the-art images of molecular bonds, are achieved by driving probes at their…
In multifrequency atomic force microscopy higher eigenmodes are externally excited to enhance resolution and contrast while simultaneously increasing the number of experimental observables with the use of gentle forces. Here, the…
Although stiction is a cumbersome problem for microsystems, it stimulates investigations of surface adhesion. In fact, the shape of an adhered cantilever carries information of the adhesion energy that locks one end to the substrate. We…
Thermal fluctuation of the cantilever position sets a fundamental limit for the precision of any Scanning Force Microscope. In the present work we analyse how these fluctuations limit the determination of the resonance frequency of the…
In this paper, a dynamic model of reconstruction of the shear force $g(t)$ in the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) cantilever tip-sample interaction is proposed. The interaction of the cone-shaped cantilever tip with the surface of the…
We report the development of a scanning force microscope based on an ultra-sensitive silicon nitride membrane transducer. Our development is made possible by inverting the standard microscope geometry - in our instrument, the substrate is…
Material indentation studies, in which a probe is brought into controlled physical contact with an experimental sample, have long been a primary means by which scientists characterize the mechanical properties of materials. More recently,…
Forced detachment of a single polymer chain, strongly-adsorbed on a solid substrate, is investigated by two complementary methods: a coarse-grained analytical dynamical model, based on the Onsager stochastic equation, and Molecular Dynamics…
A simulation of an atomic force microscope operating in the constant amplitude dynamic mode is described. The implementation mimics the electronics of a real setup including a digital phase-locked loop (PLL). The PLL is not only used as a…
Experimental methods and procedures required for precision measurements of the Casimir force are presented. In particular, the best practices for obtaining stable cantilevers, calibration of the cantilever, correction of thermal and…
We have studied the dynamics of quartz tuning fork resonators used in atomic force microscopy taking into account mechanical energy dissipation through the attachment of the tuning fork base. We find that the tuning fork resonator quality…
We discuss the influence of external forces on the motion of the tip in dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM). First, a compact solution for the steady-state problem is derived employing a Fourier approach. Founding on this solution, we…
We demonstrate a cryogenic scanned probe microscope (SPM) that has been modified to be controlled with a haptic device, such that the operator can `feel' the surface of a sample under investigation. This system allows for direct tactile…
A nanometric needle sensor mounted in an Atomic Force Microscopy allows systematic picometer-range distance measurements. This force sensing device is used in Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) as a distance sensor, by employing the…
The aim of this article is to provide a complete analysis of the behavior of a noncontact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM). We start with a review of the equations of motion of a tip interacting with a surface in which the stability…
We demonstrate a dynamic scanning capacitance microscope (DSCM) that operates at large bandwidths, cryogenic temperatures and high magnetic fields. The setup is based on a non-contact atomic force microscope (AFM) with a quartz tuning fork…
We demonstrate an alternative to Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy for imaging surface potential. The open-loop, single-pass technique applies a low-frequency AC voltage to the atomic force microscopy tip while driving the cantilever near its…
The mechanical properties of collagen fibrils depend on the amount and the distribution of water molecules within the fibrils. Here, we use atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the effect of hydration on the viscoelastic properties of…