194 research outputs found
Simultaneous current-, force- and work function measurement with atomic resolution
The local work function of a surface determines the spatial decay of the
charge density at the Fermi level normal to the surface. Here, we present a
method that enables simultaneous measurements of local work function and
tip-sample forces. A combined dynamic scanning tunneling microscope and atomic
force microscope is used to measure the tunneling current between an
oscillating tip and the sample in real time as a function of the cantilever's
deflection. Atomically resolved work function measurements on a silicon
(111)-() surface are presented and related to concurrently recorded
tunneling current- and force- measurements.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter
High-sensitivity noncontact atomic force microscope/scanning tunneling microscope (nc AFM/STM) operating at subangstrom oscillation amplitudes for atomic resolution imaging and force spectroscopy
Cataloged from PDF version of article.We describe a new, highly sensitive noncontact atomic force microscope/scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) with subangstrom oscillation amplitudes for atomic resolution imaging and force-distance spectroscopy. A novel fiber interferometer with similar to4x10(-4) A/rootHz noise level is employed to detect cantilever displacements. Subangstrom oscillation amplitude is applied to the lever at a frequency well below the resonance and changes in the oscillation amplitude due to tip-sample force interactions are measured with a lock-in amplifier. Quantitative force gradient images can be obtained simultaneously with the STM topography. Employment of subangstrom oscillation amplitudes lets us perform force-distance measurements, which reveal very short-range force interactions, consistent with the theory. Performance of the microscope is demonstrated with quantitative atomic resolution images of Si(111)(7x7) and force-distance curves showing short interaction range, all obtained with <0.25 Angstrom lever oscillation amplitude. Our technique is not limited to UHV only and operation under liquids and air is feasible. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics
Conceptual aspects of line tensions
We analyze two representative systems containing a three-phase-contact line:
a liquid lens at a fluid--fluid interface and a liquid drop in contact with a
gas phase residing on a solid substrate. We discuss to which extent the
decomposition of the grand canonical free energy of such systems into volume,
surface, and line contributions is unique in spite of the freedom one has in
positioning the Gibbs dividing interfaces. In the case of a lens it is found
that the line tension is independent of arbitrary choices of the Gibbs dividing
interfaces. In the case of a drop, however, one arrives at two different
possible definitions of the line tension. One of them corresponds seamlessly to
that applicable to the lens. The line tension defined this way turns out to be
independent of choices of the Gibbs dividing interfaces. In the case of the
second definition,however, the line tension does depend on the choice of the
Gibbs dividing interfaces. We provide equations for the equilibrium contact
angles which are form-invariant with respect to notional shifts of dividing
interfaces which only change the description of the system. Conceptual
consistency requires to introduce additional stiffness constants attributed to
the line. We show how these constants transform as a function of the relative
displacements of the dividing interfaces. The dependences of the contact angles
on lens or drop volumes do not render the line tension alone but a combination
of the line tension, the Tolman length, and the stiffness constants of the
line.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figure
Direct measurement of molecular stiffness and damping in confined water layers
We present {\em direct} and {\em linear} measurements of the normal stiffness
and damping of a confined, few molecule thick water layer. The measurements
were obtained by use of a small amplitude (0.36 ), off-resonance
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) technique. We measured stiffness and damping
oscillations revealing up to 7 layers separated by 2.56 0.20
. Relaxation times could also be calculated and were found to
indicate a significant slow-down of the dynamics of the system as the confining
separation was reduced. We found that the dynamics of the system is determined
not only by the interfacial pressure, but more significantly by solvation
effects which depend on the exact separation of tip and surface. Thus `
solidification\rq seems to not be merely a result of pressure and confinement,
but depends strongly on how commensurate the confining cavity is with the
molecule size. We were able to model the results by starting from the simple
assumption that the relaxation time depends linearly on the film stiffness.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, will be submitted to PR
Quantum point contact on graphite surface
The conductance through a quantum point contact created by a sharp and hard
metal tip on the graphite surface has features which to our knowledge have not
been encountered so far in metal contacts or in nanowires. In this paper we
first investigate these features which emerge from the strongly directional
bonding and electronic structure of graphite, and provide a theoretical
understanding for the electronic conduction through quantum point contacts. Our
study involves the molecular-dynamics simulations to reveal the variation of
interlayer distances and atomic structure at the proximity of the contact that
evolves by the tip pressing toward the surface. The effects of the elastic
deformation on the electronic structure, state density at the Fermi level, and
crystal potential are analyzed by performing self-consistent-field
pseudopotential calculations within the local-density approximation. It is
found that the metallicity of graphite increases under the uniaxial compressive
strain perpendicular to the basal plane. The quantum point contact is modeled
by a constriction with a realistic potential. The conductance is calculated by
representing the current transporting states in Laue representation, and the
variation of conductance with the evolution of contact is explained by taking
the characteristic features of graphite into account. It is shown that the
sequential puncturing of the layers characterizes the conductance.Comment: LaTeX, 11 pages, 9 figures (included), to be published in Phys. Rev.
B, tentatively scheduled for 15 September 1998 (Volume 58, Number 12
Thermal Diffusion Processes in Metal-Tip-Surface Interactions: Contact Formation and Adatom Mobility
A daily-updated tree of (sequenced) life as a reference for genome research
We report a daily-updated sequenced/species Tree Of Life (sTOL) as a reference for the increasing number of cellular organisms with their genomes sequenced. The sTOL builds on a likelihood-based weight calibration algorithm to consolidate NCBI taxonomy information in concert with unbiased sampling of molecular characters from whole genomes of all sequenced organisms. Via quantifying the extent of agreement between taxonomic and molecular data, we observe there are many potential improvements that can be made to the status quo classification, particularly in the Fungi kingdom; we also see that the current state of many animal genomes is rather poor. To augment the use of sTOL in providing evolutionary contexts, we integrate an ontology infrastructure and demonstrate its utility for evolutionary understanding on: nuclear receptors, stem cells and eukaryotic genomes. The sTOL (http://supfam.org/SUPERFAMILY/ sTOL) provides a binary tree of (sequenced) life, and contributes to an analytical platform linking genome evolution, function and phenotype
Expression and Characterization of Drosophila Signal Peptide Peptidase-Like (sppL), a Gene That Encodes an Intramembrane Protease
Intramembrane proteases of the Signal Peptide Peptidase (SPP) family play important roles in developmental, metabolic and signaling pathways. Although vertebrates have one SPP and four SPP-like (SPPL) genes, we found that insect genomes encode one Spp and one SppL. Characterization of the Drosophila sppL gene revealed that the predicted SppL protein is a highly conserved structural homolog of the vertebrate SPPL3 proteases, with a predicted nine-transmembrane topology, an active site containing aspartyl residues within a transmembrane region, and a carboxy-terminal PAL domain. SppL protein localized to both the Golgi and ER. Whereas spp is an essential gene that is required during early larval stages and whereas spp loss-of-function reduced the unfolded protein response (UPR), sppL loss of function had no apparent phenotype. This was unexpected given that genetic knockdown phenotypes in other organisms suggested significant roles for Spp-related proteases
Field-Induced Deformation as a Mechanism for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Based Nanofabrication
Application of isothermal titration calorimetry in evaluation of proteinânanoparticle interactions
Nanoparticles (NPs) offer a number of advantages over small organic molecules for controlling protein behaviour inside the cell. Protein binding to the surface of NPs depends on their surface characteristics, composition and method of preparation (Mandal et al. in J Hazard Mater 248â249:238â245, 2013). It is important to understand the binding affinities, stoichiometries and thermodynamical parameters of NPâprotein interactions in order to see which interaction will have toxic and hazardous consequences and thus to prevent it. On the other side, because proteins are on the brink of stability, they may experience interactions with some types of NPs that are strong enough to cause denaturation or significantly change their conformations with concomitant loss of their biological function. Structural changes in the protein may cause exposure of new antigenic sites, âcrypticâ peptide epitopes, potentially triggering an immune response which can promote autoimmune disease (Treuel et al. in ACS Nano 8(1):503â513, 2014). Mechanistic details of protein structural changes at NP surface have still remained elusive. Understanding the formation and persistence of the protein corona is critical issue; however, there are no many analytical methods which could provide detailed information about the NPâprotein interaction characteristics and about protein structural changes caused by interactions with nanoparticles. The article reviews recent studies in NPâprotein interactions research and application of isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) in this research. The study of protein structural changes upon adsorption on nanoparticle surface and application of ITC in these studies is emphasized. The data illustrate that ITC is a versatile tool for evaluation of interactions between NPs and proteins. When coupled with other analytical methods, it is important analytical tool for monitoring conformational changes in proteins
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