Nanoscale studies with acoustic near field microscope

In collaboration with A. Kulik, we developped new microscopes, as the Continuous Wave Scanning Acoustic Microscope (CW-SAM) and several acoustic near field atomic force microscopes (J.  Vac. Sci. Technol. B, 14 (2), 794-799 (1996), J.  Vac. Sci. Technol. B, 14 (2), 1308-1312 (1996), Nanotechnology, 8, (2), 67-75 (1997)):

  • With the CW-SAM, we performed a detailed experimental and theoretical study of the adhesion properties of surface layers deposited on substrates (EPFL PhD thesis n° 1547 of Ph. Richard, 1996),
  • With the acoustic near field atomic force microscope, we have proven that it is possible to perform acoustic spectroscopy measurements at the nano-scale, for instance measuring the internal friction as a function of temperature (EPFL PhD thesis n° 1960 of F. Oulevey, 1999) or as a function of frequency (EPFL PhD thesis n° 2278 of E. Dupas, 2000), which allowed us to study mechanical properties and phase transitions.
  • With the acoustic near field atomic force microscope, adding a modulation of the amplitude of the acoustic wave allowed us to study in details the adhesion properties at the nanoscale. It has been shown experimentally and theoretically that there are strong correlation between the adhesion properties and the tribological properties at nanoscale (EPFL PhD thesis n° 2851 of R. Szoszkiewicz, 2003).
Publications (2000-2006)
F. Oulevey, N. A. Burnham, G. Gremaud, A. J. Kulik, H. M. Pollock, A. Hammiche, M. Reading, M. Song, D.J. Hourston, Dynamic Mechanical Analysis at the Submicron Scale, Polymer, 41 (8), 3087-3092 (2000).

F. Oulevey, G. Gremaud, D. Mari, A.J. Kulik, N.A. Burnham, W. Benoit, “Martensitic transformation of NiTi studied at the nanometer scale by local mechanical spectroscopy”, Scripta Mater., 42, 31-36 (2000).

G. Gremaud, E. Dupas, A. Kulik, Surface and local spectroscopy, Materials Science Forum, 366-368, (2001) 560-570.

G. Gremaud, E. Dupas, A. Kulik, Scanning Local Acceleration Microscopy: SLAM, Materials Science Forum, 366-368, (2001) 667-676.

G. Gremaud, Scanning Acoustic Microscopy: SAM, Materials Science Forum, 366-368, (2001) 676-684

E. Dupas, G. Gremaud, A. Kulik, J.-L. Loubet, High-Frequency Mechanical Spectroscopy with an Atomic Force Microscope, Rev. Sci. Instrum. , 72, (2001) 3891-3897.

R. Szoszkiewicz, B. D. Huey, O.V. Kolosov, G.A.D. Briggs, G. Gremaud, A.J. Kulik, Tribology and Ultrasonic Hysteresis at Local Scales, Applied Surface Science, 210, (2003) 54-60.

A.J. Kulik, A. Kis, G. Gremaud, S. Hengsberger, L. Forro, Nanoscale mechanical properties using SPM – Techniques and applications, in Springer Handbook of Nanotechnology, B. Bhushan editor, Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany (2004), pp. 661-685.

R. Szoszkiewicz,  G. Gremaud, B. D. Huey, A.J. Kulik, How can ultrasounds help with connecting friction and adhesion hysteresis at local scales ?, In Acoustical Imaging, vol. 27, W. Arnold and S. Hirsekorn editors, Kluwer Academic Publishers (2004), pp.741-748.

R. Szoszkiewicz, B. Bushan, B. D. Huey, A.J. Kulik,  G. Gremaud, Correlations between Adhesion Hysteresis and Friction at Molecular Scales, J. Chem. Phys., 122, 144708  (2005).

R. Szoszkiewicz,  A.J. Kulik, G. Gremaud, Quantitative measure of nanoscale adhesion hysteresis by ultrasonic force microscopy, J. Chem. Phys., 122, 134706  (2005).  

R. Szoszkiewicz,  M. Lekka, A.J. Kulik, G. Gremaud, Probing local water contents on in vitro protein films by ultrasonic force microscopy, Appl. Phys. Lett., 86, 123901 (2005).

A.J. Kulik, A. Kis, G. Gremaud, S. Hengsberger, K. Zysset, L. Forro, Nanoscale Mechanical Properties – Measuring Techniques and Applications, in Nanotribology and Nanomechnics : An Introduction, B. Bhushan editor, Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany (2005), pp. 535-573.

M. Jobin, R. Foschia, S. Grange, C. Baur, G. Gremaud, L. Forró and R. Foschia and A. Kulik, Versatile force-feedback manipulator for nanotechnology applications, Rev. Scientif. Instrum., 76, 053701 (2005).

R. Szoszkiewicz, B. Bhushan, B. D. Huey, A. J. Kulik, G. Gremaud, Adhesion hysteris and friction at nanometer and micrometer lengths, J. Appl. Phys.  99, 014310  (2006).