Mark A. Poggi

Influence of surface stress on the resonance behavior of microcantilevers

This work presents a model to predict the effect of surface stresses on the ith-mode bending resonant frequency of microcantilevers and its experimental validation. With this model, one can calculate the surface stress acting upon the microcantilever solely by measuring resonant frequencies whereas previously one needed to measure the deflection. Resonant frequency measurement has distinct advantages in terms of ease and accuracy of measurement.

Characterization of microcantilevers solely by frequency response acquisition

A method is presented to determine the geometry of tipless microcantilevers by measuring the resonance frequencies of at least one of their bending, lateral and torsional resonance modes, and having knowledge of the beam’s elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio and density. Once the geometry is known, the beam’s stiffness and mass can be calculated. Measurement of multiple modes allows for multiple estimates of cantilever geometry. Multiple data points from the experimental results show that this approach yields dimensional values accurate to roughly 2.5% as compared to SEM-determined length, width and thickness. Stiffness values determined with this new technique are roughly 4.7% and 6.5% less than two existing characterization methods (i.e., Sader’s method and Euler–Bernoulli beam theory predictions), and roughly 16% greater than Hutter and Bechhoefer’s stiffness determination method.

Injection moulding of high aspect ratio micron-scale thickness polymeric microcantilevers

Tipless thermoplastic microcantilevers suitable for chemical and biological sensing applications were fabricated by injection moulding. Their stiffnesses and resonant frequencies were each determined by two techniques. Polystyrene beams produced by this method exhibited stiffnesses ranging from 0.01 to 10 N m−1, making them feasible for biosensing applications. The approach proved repeatable with low standard deviations on the parameters measured on 22 microcantilever beams (stiffness and first-mode resonant frequency) made from the same mould. The variations were much lower than those of similar, commercially available, silicon-type beams. The polymeric microcantilevers were shown to be of at least equal calibre to commercially available microcantilevers.

Production and characterization of polymer microcantilevers

This work describes the production of microcantilever beams via a solvent casting technique. The beams produced had dimensions of roughly 500 by 50 by 2 μm (length, width, and thickness, respectively). A subset of the beams produced were characterized and were shown to have comparable dynamic mechanical behavior as that of existing ceramic and photopolymer microcantilevers.

Injection-moulded scanning force microscopy probes

This paper presents the first production and demonstration of thermoplastic scanning force microscopy cantilevers with integrated tips fabricated via injection moulding. Their imaging resolution, clarity, and accuracy are equal to conventional silicon-type parts. The tips exhibit acceptable wear and are ready for use upon removal from the injection mould. This work shows the ability to economically mass-produce SFM probes with arbitrary shapes and features, as well as tailorable physical and chemical properties, which until now were limited by the properties of silicon and integrated-circuit processing technology used to make current commercial SFM probes.

Peeling of Long, Straight Carbon Nanotubes from Surfaces

The adhesion of long, straight, single-walled carbon nanotubes to surfaces is examined using multidimensional force spectroscopy. We observed characteristic signatures in the deflection and frequency response of the cantilever indicative of nanotube buckling and slip-stick motion as a result of compression and subsequent adhesion and peeling of the nanotube from the surface. The spring constant and the elastic modulus of the SWNT were estimated from the frequency shifts under tension. Using elastica modeling for postbuckled columns, we have determined the static coefficient of friction for the SWNT on alkanethiol-modified gold surfaces and showed that it varies with the identity of the monolayer terminal group.

Temperature-dependence of water bridge formation in atomic force microscopy

When an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is operated in air, capillary condensation induces meniscus formation between the AFM tip and substrate. At present, no models account for the temperature-dependence of meniscus formation. This paper describes experiments measuring capillary forces between an AFM tip and mica at various temperatures and times. At low humidity, the capillary force decreases with increasing surface temperature in a manner unaccounted for by merely the dependence of water surface energy on temperature. We propose that this is due to water evaporation off the heated surface. The adhesion is also shown to decrease significantly with time until stabilizing after approximately an hour of experiments. Localized heating of the surface by the AFM laser is proposed as the cause of adhesion decrease. The decrease in force occurring at high surface temperatures implies a reduction in meniscus size that may potentially improve the resolution of AFM-based nanolithography techniques.Copyright