Browsing by Author "Matei, G."

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    A highly sensitive atomic force microscope for linear measurements of molecular forces in liquids
    (American Institute of Physics, 2005) Patil, S.; Matei, G.; Dong, H.; Hoffmann, P. M.; Karaköse, M.; Oral, A.
    We describe a highly improved atomic force microscope for quantitative nanomechanical measurements in liquids. The main feature of this microscope is a modified fiber interferometer mounted on a five axis inertial slider which provides a deflection sensitivity that is significantly better than conventional laser deflection based systems. The measured low noise floor of 572.0 fmHz provides excellent cantilever amplitude resolution. This allows us to operate the instrument far below resonance at extremely small cantilever amplitudes of less than 1 Å. Thus linear measurements of nanomechanical properties of liquid systems can be performed. In particular, we present measurements of solvation forces in confined octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and water with amplitudes smaller than the size of the respective molecules. In general, the development of the instrument is important in the context of quantitative nanomechanical measurements in liquid environments.
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    Linear measurements of nanomechanical phenomena using small-amplitude AFM
    (Materials Research Society, 2004) Hoffmann, P. M.; Patil, S.; Matei, G.; Tanülkü, A.; Grimble, R.; Özer, Ö.; Jeffery, S.; Oral, Ahmet; Pethica, J.
    Dynamic Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is typically performed at amplitudes that are quite large compared to the measured interaction range. This complicates the data interpretation as measurements become highly non-linear. A new dynamic AFM technique in which ultra-small amplitudes are used (as low as 0.15 Angstrom) is able to linearize measurements of nanomechanical phenomena in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and in liquids. Using this new technique we have measured single atom bonding, atomic-scale dissipation and molecular ordering in liquid layers, including water.
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    Solid or liquid? Solidification of a nanoconfined liquid under nonequilibrium conditions
    (American Chemical Society, 2006) Patil, S.; Matei, G.; Oral, A.; Hoffmann, P. M.
    There has been a long-standing debate about the physical state and possible phase transformations of confined liquids. In this report, we show that a model-confined liquid can behave both as a Newtonian liquid with very little change in its dynamics and as a pseudosolid, depending solely on the rate of approach of the confining surfaces. Thus, the confined liquid does not exhibit any confinement-induced solidification in thermodynamic equilibrium. Instead, solidification is induced kinetically when the two confining surfaces are approached with a minimum critical rate. This critical rate is surprisingly slow (on the order of 6 Å/s), explaining the frequent observation of confinement-induced solidification.