| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C513347/1 |
| Title: |
Understanding ultra-high speed atomic force microscope images and interactions |
| Principal Investigator: |
Hobbs, Professor J |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Chemistry |
| Organisation: |
University of Sheffield |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
29 March 2005 |
Ends: |
28 March 2008 |
Value (£): |
218,566
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Analytical Science |
Instrumentation Eng. & Dev. |
| Surfaces & Interfaces |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Atomic force microscopy is one of the principal tools of nanotechnology, as well as being an established technique for materials and biological science. However, it suffers from inherent limitations in scan-rate that mean that it typically takes more than 30 seconds to obtain a single image. We have recently developed a way of bypassing these issues and obtained an increase in scan-speed by a factor of 1000, obtaining images in less than 20 milliseconds-and-openingthe.potentiat-of-following-previously-innaecessible-processes-as-weltas-scanning-large-areas with -nanometre-resolution-in seconds rather than days - key requirements for science and industry respectively if AFM is to fulfill its role in the nanotechnology revolution. To do this a novel passive feedback loop has been developed in which the cantilever beam and the forces applied to it are adjusted to force the local probe to track the surface. In this project we will explore both the nature of the response of the cantilever at these high scan-rates and the response of the surface to the previously unobtainable rate of change of locally applied force by the probe. A new form of the microscope will be constructed, capable of simultaneously monitoring the response at multiple points along the probe at MHz frequencies. This will enable a map of the probe response to be built up as a function of the surface topography imaged. At the same time, calibrated surfaces will be used to gain a complete picture of the tip-surface interaction and the effect of material properties on that interaction. Ultimately, a method of obtaining images which contain clearly defineable information about variations in material properties at the nanometre scale in sub-second timescales will be developed.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.shef.ac.uk |