47 research outputs found
Atomic White-Out: Enabling Atomic Circuitry Through Mechanically Induced Bonding of Single Hydrogen Atoms to a Silicon Surface
We report the mechanically induced formation of a silicon-hydrogen covalent
bond and its application in engineering nanoelectronic devices. We show that
using the tip of a non-contact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM), a single
hydrogen atom could be vertically manipulated. When applying a localized
electronic excitation, a single hydrogen atom is desorbed from the hydrogen
passivated surface and can be transferred to the tip apex as evidenced from a
unique signature in frequency shift curves. In the absence of tunnel electrons
and electric field in the scanning probe microscope junction at 0 V, the
hydrogen atom at the tip apex is brought very close to a silicon dangling bond,
inducing the mechanical formation of a silicon-hydrogen covalent bond and the
passivation of the dangling bond. The functionalized tip was used to
characterize silicon dangling bonds on the hydrogen-silicon surface, was shown
to enhance the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) contrast, and allowed NC-AFM
imaging with atomic and chemical bond contrasts. Through examples, we show the
importance of this atomic scale mechanical manipulation technique in the
engineering of the emerging technology of on-surface dangling bond based
nanoelectronic devices.Comment: 9 pages (including references and Supplementary Section), 8 figures
(5 in the main text, 3 in Supplementary
New fabrication technique for highly sensitive qPlus sensor with well-defined spring constant
A new technique for the fabrication of highly sensitive qPlus sensor for
atomic force microscopy (AFM) is described. Focused ion beam was used to cut
then weld onto a bare quartz tuning fork a sharp micro-tip from an
electrochemically etched tungsten wire. The resulting qPlus sensor exhibits
high resonance frequency and quality factor allowing increased force gradient
sensitivity. Its spring constant can be determined precisely which allows
accurate quantitative AFM measurements. The sensor is shown to be very stable
and could undergo usual UHV tip cleaning including e-beam and field evaporation
as well as in-situ STM tip treatment. Preliminary results with STM and AFM
atomic resolution imaging at of the silicon
surface are presented.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Consistent probe spacing in multi-probe STM experiments
Multi-probe scanning tunneling microscopy can play a role in various electrical measurements and characterization of nanoscale objects. The consistent close placement of multiple probes relies on very sharp apexes with no other interfering materials along the shank of the tip. Electrochemically etched tips can prepare very sharp apex tips; however, other asperities on the shank can cause interference and limit the close positioning of multiple tips to beyond the measured radii. Gallium focused ion beam (FIB) milling is used to remove any interfering material and allow closely spaced tips with a consistent yield. The tip apex radius is evaluated with field ion microscopy, and the probe spacing is evaluated with STM on hydrogen terminated silicon surfaces. FIB prepared tips can consistently achieve the measured probe to probe spacing distances of 25 nm–50 nm
Towards digital metal additive manufacturing via high-temperature drop-on-demand jetting
Drop-on-demand jetting of metals offers a fully digital manufacturing approach to surpass the limitations of the current generation powder-based additive manufacturing technologies. However, research on this topic has been restricted mainly to near-net shaping of relatively low melting temperature metals. Here it is proposed a novel approach to jet molten metals at high-temperatures (>1000 °C) to enable the direct digital additive fabrication of micro- to macro-scale objects. The technique used in our research – “MetalJet” - is discussed by studying the ejection and the deposition of two example metals, tin and silver. The applicability of this new technology to additive manufacturing is evaluated through the study of the interface formed between the droplets and the substrate, the inter-droplets bonding, the microstructure and the geometrical fidelity of the printed objects. The research shows that the integrity of the samples (in terms of density as well as metallurgy) varies dramatically in the two investigated materials due to the different conditions that are required to melt the interface of the stacked droplets. Nevertheless the research shows that by a careful choice of the jetting strategy and sintering treatments 3D structures of various complexity can be formed. This research paves the way towards the next generation metal additive manufacturing where various printing resolutions and multi-material capabilities could be used to obtain functional components for applications in printed electronics, medicine and the automotive sectors
Nanoscale structuring of tungsten tip yields most coherent electron point-source
This report demonstrates the most spatially-coherent electron source ever
reported. A coherence angle of 14.3 +/- 0.5 degrees was measured, indicating a
virtual source size of 1.7 +/-0.6 Angstrom using an extraction voltage of 89.5
V. The nanotips under study were crafted using a spatially-confined,
field-assisted nitrogen etch which removes material from the periphery of the
tip apex resulting in a sharp, tungsten-nitride stabilized, high-aspect ratio
source. The coherence properties are deduced from holographic measurements in a
low-energy electron point source microscope with a carbon nanotube bundle as
sample. Using the virtual source size and emission current the brightness
normalized to 100 kV is found to be 7.9x10^8 A/sr cm^2
Growth, microstructure, and failure of crazes in glassy polymers
We report on an extensive study of craze formation in glassy polymers.
Molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained bead-spring model were
employed to investigate the molecular level processes during craze nucleation,
widening, and breakdown for a wide range of temperature, polymer chain length
, entanglement length and strength of adhesive interactions between
polymer chains. Craze widening proceeds via a fibril-drawing process at
constant drawing stress. The extension ratio is determined by the entanglement
length, and the characteristic length of stretched chain segments in the
polymer craze is . In the craze, tension is mostly carried by the
covalent backbone bonds, and the force distribution develops an exponential
tail at large tensile forces. The failure mode of crazes changes from
disentanglement to scission for , and breakdown through scission
is governed by large stress fluctuations. The simulations also reveal
inconsistencies with previous theoretical models of craze widening that were
based on continuum level hydrodynamics
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Design for invention: annotation of Functional Geometry Interaction for representing novel working principles
In some mechanical engineering devices the novelty or inventive step of a patented design relies heavily upon how geometric features contribute to device functions. Communicating the functional interactions between geometric features in existing patented designs may increase a designer’s awareness of the prior art and thereby avoid conflict with their emerging design.
This paper shows how functional representations of geometry interactions can be developed from patent claims to produce novel semantic graphical and text annotations of patent drawings. The approach provides a quick and accurate means for the designer to understand the patent that is well suited to the designer’s natural way of understanding the device.
Through several example application cases we show the application of a detailed representation of Functional Geometry Interactions that captures the working principle of familiar mechanical engineering devices described in patents. A computer tool that is being developed to assist the designer to understand prior art is also described