• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.289-296
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• 2012

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used for imaging surfaces and measuring surface forces at the nano-scale. Force calibration is important for the quantitative measurement of forces at the nano-scale using AFM. Normal force calibration is relatively straightforward, whereas the lateral force calibration is more complicated since the lateral stiffness of the cantilever is often comparable to the contact stiffness. In this work, the lateral force calibrations of the rectangular cantilever were performed using torsional Sader's method, thermal noise method, and wedge calibration method. The lateral optical lever sensitivity for the thermal noise method was determined from the friction loop under various normal forces as well. Experimental results showed that the discrepancies among the results of the different methods were as large as 30% due to the effect of the contact stiffness on the lateral force calibration of the cantilever used in this work. After correction for the effect of contact stiffness, all the calibration results agreed with each other, within experimental uncertainties.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2013

Quantifying the nanoscale force between the atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe of a force-sensing cantilever and the sample is one of the challenges faced by AFM researchers. The normal force calibration is straightforward; however, the lateral force is complicated due to the twisting motion of the cantilever. Force measurement in a liquid environment is often needed for biological applications; however, calibrating the force of the AFM probes for those applications is more difficult owing to the limitations of conventional calibration methods. In this work, an accurate nondestructive lateral force calibration method using multiple pivot loading was proposed for liquid environment. The torque sensitivity at the location of the integrated probe was extrapolated based on accurately measured torque sensitivities across the cantilever width along a few cantilever lengths. The uncertainty of the torque sensitivity at the location of the integrated tip was about 13%, which is significantly smaller than those for other calibration methods in a liquid environment.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.240-247
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• 2014

Modelling and measurements of normal and lateral stiffness for atomic force microscopy (AFM) are presented in this work. Important issues, such as element discretisation, stiffness calibration, and deflection angle are explored using the finite element (FE) model. Elements with various dimension ratios are investigated and comparisons with several mathematical models are reported to verify the accuracy of the model. Investigation of the deflection angle of a cantilever is also shown. Moreover, AFM force measurement experiments with conical and colloid probe tips are demonstrated. The relationships between force and displacement, required for stiffness measurement, in normal and lateral directions are acquired for the conical tip and the limitations of the colloid probe tip are highlighted.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.160-166
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• 2013

There is an indispensable need for force calibration for quantitative nanoscale force measurement using atomic force microscopy. Calibrating the normal force is relatively straightforward, whereas doing so for the lateral force is often complicated because of the difficulty in determining the optical lever sensitivity. In particular, the lateral force calibration of a colloidal probe in a liquid environment often has a larger uncertainty as a result of the effects of the epoxy, the location of the colloidal particle on the cantilever, and a decrease in the quality factor. In this work, the lateral force of a colloidal probe using a reference cantilever with a known spring constant was calibrated in a liquid environment. By obtaining the spring constant and the lateral sensitivity at the equator of a spherical colloidal particle, the damage to the bottom surface of the colloidal particle could be eliminated. Further, it was shown that the effect of the contact stiffness on the determination of the lateral spring constant of the cantilever could be minimized. It was concluded that this method can be effectively used for the lateral force calibration of a colloidal probe in a liquid environment.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.221-226
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• 2005

A new calibration method for exact measurement of friction force in atomic force microscope (AFM) is presented. A new conversion factor involves a contact factor affected by tip, cantilever and contact stiffness. Especially the effect of contact stiffness on the conversion factor between lateral force and lateral signal is considered. Conventional conversion factor and a new modified conversion factor were experimentally compared. Results showed that a new calibration method could minimize the effect of normal load on friction force and improve the conventional method. A new method could be applied to the specimens with different physical properties.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.109-113
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• 2007

The surface molecular motion of monodisperse polystyrene (PS) films was examined using scanning vis-coelasticity microscopy (SVM) in conjunction with lateral force microscopy (LFM). The dynamic storage modulus, E', and loss tangent, $tan\delta$, at a PS film surface with number-average molecular weights, $M_n$, smaller than 30 k were found to be smaller and larger than those for the bulk sample, even at room temperature, meaning that the PS surface is in a glass-rubber transition or fully rubbery sate at this temperature when the $M_n$ is small. In order to quantitatively elucidate the dynamics of the molecular motion at the PS surface, SVM and LFM measurements were performed at various temperatures. The glass transition temperature, $T_g$, at the surface was found to be markedly lower than the bulk $T_g$, and this discrepancy between the surface and bulk became larger with decreasing $M_n$. Such an intensive activation of the thermal molecular motion at the PS surfaces can be explained in terms of an excess free volume in the vicinity of the film surface induced by the preferential segregation of the chain end groups.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.203-211
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• 2012

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used as a tool, not only for imaging surfaces, but also for measuring surface forces and mechanical properties at the nano-scale. Force calibration is crucial for quantitatively measuring the forces that act between the AFM probe of a force sensing cantilever and a sample. In this work, the lateral force calibrations of a V-shaped cantilever were performed using the finite element method, multiple pivot loading, and thermal noise methods. As a result, it was shown that the multiple pivot loading method was appropriate for the lateral force calibration of a V-shaped cantilever. Further, through crosschecking of the abovementioned methods, it was concluded that the thermal noise method could be used for determining the lateral spring constants as long as the lateral deflection sensitivity was accurately determined. To obtain the lateral deflection sensitivity from the sticking portion of the friction loop, the contact stiffness should be taken into account.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.536-536
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• 2012

나노와이어는 센서, 메모리소자, 태양전지등과 같은 다양한 소자로 응용이 되고 있다. Bottom-up 방법으로 길러진 나노와이어들을 금속전극 위에 정렬 및 접합시킬 때, 나노와이어와 금속전극간의 기계적 접합강도와 안정적인 전기적 특성이 매우 중요하다. 본 연구에서는 열압착 공정과 솔더전극(Cr/Au/In/Au, Cr/Cu/In/Au)을 사용함으로써, 나노와이어를 금속전극에 압입시켜 강한 기계적 접합강도와 안정적인 전기적 특성을 얻을 수 있는 공정을 제안하였다. 나노와이어와 금속 전극간의 접합부 분석을 위해 scanning electron microscopy (SEM)와 transmission electron microscopy (TEM)을 이용하였으며, 기계적 특성은 lateral force microscopy (LFM), 전기적 특성은 semiconductor analyzer (Keithley 4200-SCS)를 사용하여 측정하였다. 접합강도 측정결과 lateral force가 나노와이어에 가해질 때 나노와이어가 파괴되는 힘에서도 나노와이어와 금속전극간의 접합부파괴가 일어나지 않았다. 또한 나노와이어와 금속전극간의 전기적 접촉특성은 안정적인 ohmic contact을 이루었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.367-370
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• 2003

In this study, application of SAM (self-assembled monolayer) to nano replication process as an anti-adhesion layer was presented to reduce the surface energy between the nano mold and the replicated polymeric nano patterns. The electron beam lithography was used for master nano patterns and the electorforming process was used to fabricate the nickel nano stamper. Alkanethiol SAM as an anti-adhesion layer was deposited on metallic nano stamper using solution deposition method. To analyze wettability and adhesion force of SAM, contact angle and LFM (Lateral Force Microscopy) were measured at the actual processing temperature and pressure for the case of nano compression molding and at the actual UV dose for the case of nano UV molding. It was found that the surface energy due to SAM deposition on the nickel nano stamper markedly decreased and the quality of SAM on the nickel stamper maintained under the actual molding environments.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.402.1-402.1
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• 2014

Photonic force microscopy (PFM) is an optical tweezers-based scanning probe microscopy, which measures the forces in the range of fN to pN. The low stiffness leads proper to measure single molecular interaction. We introduce a novel photonic force microscopy to stably map various chemical properties as well as topographic information, utilizing weak molecular bond between probe and object's surface. First, we installed stable optical tweezers instrument, where an IR laser with 1064 nm wavelength was used as trapping source to reduce damage to biological sample. To manipulate trapped material, electric driven two-axis mirrors were used for x, y directional probe scanning and a piezo stage for z directional probe scanning. For resolution test, probe scans with vertical direction repeatedly at the same lateral position, where the vertical resolution is ~25 nm. To obtain the topography of surface which is etched glass, trapped bead scans 3-dimensionally and measures the contact position in each cycle. To acquire the chemical mapping, we design the DNA oligonucleotide pairs combining as a zipping structure, where one is attached at the surface of bead and other is arranged on surface. We measured the rupture force of molecular bonding to investigate chemical properties on the surface with various loading rate. We expect this system can realize a high-resolution multi-functional imaging technique able to acquire topographic map of objects and to distinguish difference of chemical properties between these objects simultaneously.