Browsing by Subject "Atomic scale imaging"
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Item Open Access Direct measurement of interatomic force gradients using an ultra-low-amplitude atomic force microscope(The Royal Society Publishing, 2001) Hoffmann, P. M.; Oral, A.; Grimble, R. A.; Özer, H. Ö.; Jeffery, S.; Pethica, J. B.Interatomic force gradients between a W tip and a 7 × 7 reconstructed Si(111) surface were measured using an off-resonance, ultra-low-amplitude atomic force microscope (AFM) technique. The amplitudes used were less than 1 Å (peak-to-peak), which allowed direct measurement of the interaction force gradients as a function of separation. The force gradient curves are shown to consist of an attractive van der Waals part and short-range attractive and repulsive interactions. The van der Waals background can be subtracted, leaving a short-range interaction with an energy parameter of 1.9-3.4 eV and an interaction length-scale of 0.54-1.26 Å, characteristic of a single atomic bond. This correlates well with our observation of single-atom resolved force gradient images. In general, the interaction is reversible up to the zero intercept of the force gradient (inflection point of the energy). Beyond this point hysteresis tends to be observed and the onset of inelastic deformation can be clearly discerned. An analysis of the atomic scale contact gives reasonable values for the interfacial energy, yield strength, and the energy per atom needed to initiate plastic deformation.Item Open Access Nanomechanics using an ultra-small amplitude AFM(Cambridge University Press, 2001) Hoffmann, P. M.; Jeffery, S.; Oral, Ahmet; Grimble, R. A.; Özer, H. Özgür; Pethica, J. B.A new type of AFM is presented which allows for direct measurements of nanomechanical properties in ultra-high vacuum and liquid environments. The AFM is also capable to atomic-scale imaging of force gradients. This is achieved by vibrating a stiff lever at very small amplitudes of less than 1 Å (peak-to-peak) at a sub-resonance amplitude. This linearizes the measurement and makes the interpretation of the data straight-forward. At the atomic scale, interaction force gradients are measured which are consistent with the observation of single atomic bonds. Also, atomic scale damping is observed which rapidly rises with the tip-sample separation. A mechanism is proposed to explain this damping in terms of atomic relaxation in the tip. We also present recent results in water where we were able to measure the mechanical response due to the molecular ordering of water close to an atomically flat surface.