Impact of Electrostatic Forces in Contact Mode Scanning Force Microscopy

In this $\ll$ contribution we address the question to what extent surface charges affect contact-mode scanning force microscopy measurements. % We therefore designed samples where we could generate localized electric field distributions near the surface as and when required. % We performed a series of experiments where we varied the load of the tip, the stiffness of the cantilever and the hardness of the sample surface. % It turned out that only for soft cantilevers could an electrostatic interaction between tip and surface charges be detected, irrespective of the surface properties, i.\,e. basically regardless its hardness. % We explain these results through a model based on the alteration of the tip-sample potential by the additional electric field between charged tip and surface charges

Cantilever Based Optical Interfacial Force Microscope

We developed a cantilever based optical interfacial force microscopy (COIFM) that employs a microactuated silicon cantilever and optical detection method to establish the measurement of the single molecular interactions using the force feedback technique. Through the direct measurement of the COIFM force-distance curves, we have demonstrated that the COIFM is capable of unveiling structural and mechanical information on interfacial water at the single molecular level over all distances between two hydrophilic surfaces

Energy transfer between a biological labelling dye and gold nanorods

We have demonstrated energy transfer between a biological labelling dye (Alexa Fluor 405) and gold nanorods experimentally and theoretically. The fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy and density matrix method are used to study a hybrid system of dye and nanorods under one- and two-photon excitations. Energy transfer between dye and nanorods via the dipole–dipole interaction is found to cause a decrease in the fluorescence lifetime change. Enhanced energy transfer from dye to nanorods is measured in the presence of an increased density of nanorods. This study has potential applications in fluorescence lifetime-based intra-cellular sensing of bio-analytes as well as nuclear targeting cancer therap

Materials Characterization Using High-Frequency Atomic Force Microscopy and Friction Force Microscopy

During the last decade, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has been widely used to image the topography of various surfaces with corrugations down to the atomic scale [1,2]. Since then, development of new techniques based on AFM has been conducted to evaluate physical, chemical or mechanical surface properties [3]. We describe the use of near-field acoustic microscopy, based on AFM and hereafter referred to as Acoustic Microscopy by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFAM), as it has been developed earlier [4]. The relevance of this new scanning probe microscopy for high-resolution nondestructive testing and evaluation purposes is pointed out. It is shown that AFAM is capable of measuring elasticity on surfaces with a spatial resolution of less than 100 nm. Subsurface elastic properties and subsurface microdefect characterization can be performed by this technique. The high frequency Friction Force Microscopy (FFM) image, hereafter called Acoustic Friction Force Micropscopy (AFFM), reveals information different from the conventionally taken friction force image. We describe experimental and theoretical aspects of high-frequency atomic force and friction force microscopy

Strong Ramsey games: Drawing on an infinite board

Consider the following strong Ramsey game. Two players take turns in claiming a previously unclaimed edge of the complete graph on n vertices until all edges have been claimed. The first player to build a copy of K5 is declared the winner of the game. If none of the players win, then the game ends in a draw. A simple strategy stealing argument shows that the second player cannot expect to ever win this game. Moreover, for sufficiently large n, it follows from Ramsey’s Theorem that the game cannot end in a draw and is thus a first player win. A famous question of Beck asks whether the minimum number of moves needed for the first player to win this game on Kn grows with n. This seems unlikely but is still wide open. A striking equivalent formulation of this question is whether the same game played on the infinite complete graph is a first player win or a draw. The target graph of the strong Ramsey game does not have to be K5, it can be any predetermined fixed graph. In fact, it can even be a k-uniform hypergraph (and then the game is played on the infinite k-uniform hypergraph). Since strategy stealing and Ramsey’s Theorem still apply, one can ask the same question: is this game a first player win or a draw? The same intuition which lead most people (including the authors) to believe that the K5 strong Ramsey game on the infinite board is a first player win, would also lead one to believe that the H strong Ramsey game on the infinite board is a first player win for any uniform hypergraph H. However, in this paper we construct a 5-uniform hypergraph for which the corresponding game is a draw

Controlling the quality factor of a tuning-fork resonance between 9 K and 300 K for scanning-probe microscopy

We study the dynamic response of a mechanical quartz tuning fork in the temperature range from 9 K to 300 K. Since the quality factor Q of the resonance strongly depends on temperature, we implement a procedure to control the quality factor of the resonance. We show that we are able to dynamically change the quality factor and keep it constant over the whole temperature range. This procedure is suitable for applications in scanning probe microscopy.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Formation, Manipulation, and Elasticity Measurement of a Nanometric Column of Water Molecules

Nanometer-sized columns of condensed water molecules are created by an atomic-resolution force microscope operated in ambient conditions. Unusual stepwise decrease of the force gradient associated with the thin water bridge in the tip-substrate gap is observed during its stretch, exhibiting regularity in step heights (~0.5 N/m) and plateau lengths (~1 nm). Such "quantized" elasticity is indicative of the atomic-scale stick-slip at the tip-water interface. A thermodynamic-instability-induced rupture of the water meniscus (5-nm long and 2.6-nm wide) is also found. This work opens a high-resolution study of the structure and the interface dynamics of a nanometric aqueous column.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Nanoscale piezoelectric response across a single antiparallel ferroelectric domain wall

Surprising asymmetry in the local electromechanical response across a single antiparallel ferroelectric domain wall is reported. Piezoelectric force microscopy is used to investigate both the in-plane and out-of- plane electromechanical signals around domain walls in congruent and near-stoichiometric lithium niobate. The observed asymmetry is shown to have a strong correlation to crystal stoichiometry, suggesting defect-domain wall interactions. A defect-dipole model is proposed. Finite element method is used to simulate the electromechanical processes at the wall and reconstruct the images. For the near-stoichiometric composition, good agreement is found in both form and magnitude. Some discrepancy remains between the experimental and modeling widths of the imaged effects across a wall. This is analyzed from the perspective of possible electrostatic contributions to the imaging process, as well as local changes in the material properties in the vicinity of the wall

Local probing of ionic diffusion by electrochemical strain microscopy: spatial resolution and signal formation mechanisms

Electrochemical insertion-deintercalation reactions are typically associated with significant change of molar volume of the host compound. This strong coupling between ionic currents and strains underpins image formation mechanisms in electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM), and allows exploring the tip-induced electrochemical processes locally. Here we analyze the signal formation mechanism in ESM, and develop the analytical description of operation in frequency and time domains. The ESM spectroscopic modes are compared to classical electrochemical methods including potentiostatic and galvanostatic intermittent titration (PITT and GITT), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). This analysis illustrates the feasibility of spatially resolved studies of Li-ion dynamics on the sub-10 nanometer level using electromechanical detection.Comment: 49 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables, 3 appendices, to be submitted to J. Appl. Phys