• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.645-646
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• 2006

The oscillation amplitude of a probe tip is an important parameter to determine the resolution of atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. In this work, we introduce a new method for the measurement of the oscillation amplitude of a quartz tuning fork tip sub-nanometer resolution.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.747-751
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• 2010

In the study, the characteristics of the etched Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films surface, the etch rate of ZnO thin film in $Cl_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma was investigated. The maximum ZnO etch rate of 53 nm/min was obtained for $Cl_2/BCl_3/Ar$=3:16:4 sccm gas mixture. According to the x-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), the etched ZnO thin film was investigated to the chemical reaction of the ZnO surface in $Cl_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma. The field emission auger electron spectroscopy (FE-AES) analysis showed an elemental analysis from the etched surfaces. According to the etching time, the ZnO thin film of etched was obtained to The AES depth-profile analysis. We used to atomic force microscopy to determine the roughness of the surface. So, the root mean square of ZnO thin film was 17.02 in $Cl_2/BCl_3/Ar$ plasma. Based on these data, the ion-assisted chemical reaction was proposed as the main etch mechanism for the plasmas.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.50
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• pp.28.1-28.6
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• 2020

Contamination on two-dimensional (2D) crystal surfaces poses serious limitations on fundamental studies and applications of 2D crystals. Surface residues induce uncontrolled doping and charge carrier scattering in 2D crystals, and trapped residues in mechanically assembled 2D vertical heterostructures often hinder coupling between stacked layers. Developing a process that can reduce the surface residues on 2D crystals is important. In this study, we explored the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to remove surface residues from 2D crystals. Using various transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations, we confirmed that surface residues on graphene samples can be effectively removed via contact-mode AFM scanning. The mechanical cleaning process dramatically increases the residue-free areas, where high-resolution imaging of graphene layers can be obtained. We believe that our mechanical cleaning process can be utilized to prepare high-quality 2D crystal samples with minimum surface residues.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2000.05b
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• pp.327-330
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• 2000

The scanning Maxwell-stress microscopy (SMM) is a dynamic noncontact electric force microscopy that allows simultaneous access to the electrical properties of molecular system such as surface potential, surface charge, dielectric constant and conductivity along with the topography. The Scanning near-field optical / atomic force microscopy (SNOAM) is a new tool for surface imaging which was introduced as one application of the atomic force microscope (AFM). Operated with non-contact forces between the optical fiber and sample as well as equipped with the piezoscanners, the instrument reports on surface topology without damaging or modifying the surface for measuring of optical characteristic in the films. We report our recent results of its application to nanoscopic study of domain structures and electrical functionality in organic thin films by SMM. Furthermore, we have illustrated the SNOAM image in obtaining the merocyanine dye films as well as the optical image.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.119-125
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to compare micro-scale friction coefficients with and without synovial fluid, and micro-scale measurements were performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) with a $5{\mu}m$ spherical probe. Four cylindrical cartilage specimens were harvested from two fresh bovine humeral heads (4-6 months old). $Average{\pm}standard$ deviation values of the micro-scale AFM frictional coefficients calculated from the liner fit of friction versus normal force was $0.177{\pm}0.012$ and $0.130{\pm}0.010$ with and without synovial fluid coating on AFM probe respectively, showing its reduction by ${\sim}27%$ with synovial fluid. To the best of our knowledge, this experimental study investigates the first such comparisons of frictional response of articular cartilage with and without synovial fluid coating on AFM probe, and provides significant insights into the role of synovial fluid in the articular cartilage friction and lubrication independently of the confounding effect of fluid pressurization in the articular cartilage.

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.340-340
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• 2006

Applying force-distance curve measurement by atomic force microscopy to a theoretical mechanical model gives us elastic properties of polymer surfaces. Our group focuses on force-mapping method, in which force-distance curve is performed at each lattice point on a sample surface and subsequently a variety of properties derived from analytical results are combined to construct a 2-dimensional image. With this method we succeeded in deriving Young' s modulus distribution map method of rubbery/rubbery polymer blend surfaces with ${\sim}100\;nm$ lateral resolution. We also applied force-mapping method to another theory to divide distribution of hardness from that of adhesion. We will demonstrate recent progress.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.293-298
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• 2009

The ultrasonic atomic force microscope(UAFM) has been developed in order to enhance the characterization technology for nano-scale surface combining ultrasonic property to atomic force microscope. This UAFM technique enables elasticity imaging due to the physical properties on the heterogeneous surface in addition to the novel topography of surface height in the nano-surface layer. In this study, the prototype UAFM system was constructed and applied to several materials, silicon deposited wafer, spherodized cold heading steel, and carbon fiber reinforced plastic specimen. Clear elastic contrast was successfully obtained using this developed prototype UAFM.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.538-545
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• 2009

The principle and application of a scanning probe microscopy(SPM) are reviewed briefly, and a low-invasive single cell manipulation and a gene delivery technique using an etched atomic force microscopy(AFM) probe tip, which we call a nanoneedle, are explained in detail. The nanoneedle insertion into a cell can be judged by a sudden drop of force in a force-distance curve. The probabilities of nanoneedle insertion into cells were 80~90%, which were higher than those of typical microinjection capillaries. When the diameter of the nanoneedle was smaller than 400 nm, the nanoneedle insertion into a cell over 1 hour had almost no influence on the cell viability. A highly efficient gene delivery and a high ratio of expressed gene per delivered DNA compared the conventional major nonviral gene delivery methods could be achieved using the gene modified nanoneedle.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.9-16
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• 2014

A proton exchange membrane is a core component in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell because the role of proton exchange membrane(PEM)is supplying proton conductivity to fuel cell, a gas separator, and insulating between an anode and cathode. Among various role of PEM, supplying proton conductivity is the most important and the proton conductivity is strongly related the structural evolution of PEM by hydration. Thus a lot of studies have done by past few decade based on small angle X-ray scattering and wide angle X-ray scattering for understanding morphological structure of the PEM. Resulting from these studies, several morphological models of hydrated PEM are proposed. Current sensing atomic force microscopy (CSAFM) can map morphology and conductance on the membrane simultaneously. It can be the best tool for studying heterogenous structured materials such as PEM. In this study, the hydration of the membrane is examined by using CSAFM. Conductance and morphological images are simultaneously mapped under different relative humidity. The conductance images, which are mapped from different relative humidity, are analyzed by statistical methode for understanding ionic channel variation in PEM.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.04b
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• pp.79-80
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• 2009

The local oxidation using an atomic force microscopy (AFM) is useful for Si-base fabrication of nanoscale structures and devices. SiC is a wide band-gap material that has advantages such as high-power, high-temperature and high-frequency in applications, and among several SiC poly types, 4H-SiC is the most attractive poly type due to the high electron mobility. However, the AFM local oxidation of 4H-SiC for fabrication is still difficult, mainly due to the physical hardness and chemical inactivity of SiC. In this paper, we investigated the local oxidation of 4H-SiC surface using an AFM. We fabricated oxide patterns using a contact mode AFM with a Pt/Ir-coated Si tip (N-type, $0.01{\sim}0.025\;{\Omega}cm$) at room temperature, and the relative humidity ranged from 40 to 50%. The height of the fabricated oxide pattern ($1{\sim}3\;nm$) on SiC is similar to that of typically obtained on Si ($10^{15}{\sim}10^{17}\;cm^{-3}$). We perform the 2-D simulation to further analyze the electric field between the tip and the surface. Whereas the simulated electric field on Si surface is constant ($5\;{\times}\;10^7\;V/m$), the electric field on SiC surface increases with increasing the doping concentration from ${\sim}10^{15}$ to ${\sim}10^{17}\;cm^{-3}$. We demonstrated that a specific electric field ($4\;{\times}\;10^7\;V/m$) and a doping concentration (${\sim}10^{17}\;cm^{-3}$) is sufficient to switch on/off the growth of the local oxide on SiC.