Effects of Lateral Contact Stiffness and Geometrical Parameters on Torsional Sensitivity of Vibration Modes of Rectangular Atomic Force Microscopy Cantilevers with Sidewall

Subsurface imaging of Au circuit structures embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thin films with a cover thickness ranging from 52 to 653 nm was carried out by using contact resonance atomic force microscopy (CR-AFM). The mechanical difference of the embedded metal layer leads to an obvious CR-AFM frequency shift and therefore its unambiguous differentiation from the polymer matrix. The contact stiffness contrast, determined from the tracked frequency images, was employed for quantitative evaluation. The influence of various parameter settings and sample properties was systematically investigated by combining experimental results with theoretical analysis from finite element simulations. The results show that imaging with a softer cantilever and a lower eigenmode will improve the subsurface contrast. The experimental results and theoretical calculations provide a guide to optimizing parameter settings for the nondestructive diagnosis of flexible circuits. Defect detection of the embedded circuit pattern was also carried out, which indicates the capability of imaging tiny subsurface structures smaller than 100 nm by using CR-AFM.

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Dispersibility of Carbon Nanotubes

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.537-538.161 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 537-538 ◽

pp. 161-168 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

T. Gábor ◽

D. Aranyi ◽

Katalin Papp ◽

F.H. Kármán ◽

Erika Kálmán

Keyword(s):

Carbon Nanotubes ◽

Atomic Force Microscopy ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Polymer Composites ◽

Ionic Surfactant ◽

Geometrical Parameters ◽

Stable Carbon ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Atomic Force ◽

Dispersion Agent

Availability of a stable carbon nanotube suspension is a prerequisite for production of polymer composites with carbon nanotube as additives. In this work nanotube suspensions, which have been prepared from various nanotubes in different dispersion agents, were compared. Dispersibility of the samples was investigated by scanning electon microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Solution of a non-ionic surfactant was also used successfully as a new dispersion agent. Geometrical parameters of the carbon nanotubes were determined by using atomic force microscopy. Correlation was found between the dispersibility and the parameters of the nanotubes and relative permittivity of the different solvents.

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Study of the sensitivity and resonant frequency of the flexural modes of an atomic force microscopy microcantilever modeled by strain gradient elasticity theory

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part C Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science ◽

10.1177/0954406213507918 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 228 (8) ◽

pp. 1299-1310 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Mohammad Abbasi ◽

Ardeshir Karami Mohammadi

Keyword(s):

Atomic Force Microscopy ◽

Resonant Frequency ◽

Strain Gradient ◽

Contact Stiffness ◽

Current Model ◽

Gradient Elasticity ◽

Strain Gradient Theory ◽

Gradient Theory ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Atomic Force

In this study, the resonant frequency and sensitivity of an atomic force microscopy microcantilever are analyzed utilizing the strain gradient theory, and then the governing equation and boundary conditions are derived by a combination of the basic equations of the modified strain gradient theory and the Hamilton principle. Afterward, the resonant frequency and sensitivity of the proposed atomic force microscopy microcantilever are obtained numerically. The results of the current model are compared to those evaluated by both modified couple stress and classic beam theories. Results show that utilizing the strain gradient theory in the analysis of atomic force microscopy microcantilever dynamic behavior is necessary especially when the contact stiffness is high and the thickness of the microcantilever approaches the internal material length scale parameter.

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