Sharif Digital Repository

We have studied the mechanical properties of a few-layer graphene cantilever (FLGC) using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The mechanical properties of the suspended FLGC over an open hole have been derived from the AFM data. Force displacement curves using the Derjaguin–Müller–Toporov (DMT) and the massless cantilever beam models yield a Young modulus of Ec ~ 37, Ea ~ 0.7 TPa and a Hamakar constant of ~ 3 × 10 − 18 J. The threshold force to shear the FLGC was determined from a breaking force and modeling. In addition, we studied a graphene nanoribbon (GNR), which is a system similar to the FLGC; using density functional theory (DFT). The in-plane Young's modulus for the GNRs were calculated... 

As membrane distillation (MD) is an under-developed separation process, specific membranes for MD applications are not yet commercially available. Therefore, microporous polymeric membranes made of hydrophobic materials fabricated for microfiltration purposes are usually used for MD applications. Characterization of such kind of membranes is important in order to achieve a better in-depth understanding of their performance and to fabricate specific membranes for MD process. One of the emerging characterization methods is atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. AFM is a newly developed high-resolution method that is useful for studying the surface topography of various types of membranes, and... 

This research regards to a two-dimensional lateral pushing nanomanipulation using Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). Yet a reliable control of the AFM tip position during the AFM-based manipulation process is a chief issue since the tip can jump over the target nanoparticle and then the process can fail. However, a detailed Modeling and understanding of the interaction forces on the AFM tip is important for prosperous manipulation control and a nanometer resolution tip positioning. In the proposed model, Lund-Grenoble (LuGre) dynamic friction model is used as friction force on the contact surface between the nanoparticle and the substrate. This model leads to a stick-slip behavior of the... 

The morphological manipulation and structural characterisation of TiO 2-MgO binary system by an aqueous particulate sol-gel route were reported. Different crystal structures including pure MgTiO 3, mixtures of MgTiO 3 and TiO 2 and mixtures of MgTiO 3 and Mg 2TiO 4 were tailored by controlling Mg:Ti molar ratio and annealing temperatures as the processing parameters. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that all compounds crystallised at the low temperature of 500 °C. Furthermore, it was found that the average crystallite size of the compounds depends upon the Mg:Ti molar ratio as well as the annealing temperature, being in the range 3-5 nm at... 

The non-linear flexural vibration for a dagger-shaped atomic force microscope cantilever has been investigated using the Timoshenko beam theory. In this article, the normal and tangential tip-sample interaction forces are found from Hertzian contact model and the effects of the geometry, normal and lateral contact stiffness, height of the tip, thickness of the beam, the angle between the cantilever and the sample surface and breadth and height taper ratios on the non-linear frequency to linear frequency ratio have been studied. The differential quadrature method (DQM) is employed to solve the non-linear differential equations of motion. The results show that the softening behaviour is seen... 

The resonant frequencies and flexural sensitivities of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with assembled cantilever probe (ACP) are studied. This ACP comprises a horizontal cantilever, a vertical extension and two tips located at the free ends of the cantilever and the extension, which makes the AFM capable of simultaneous topography at top surface and sidewalls of microstructures especially microgears, which consequently leads to a time-saving swift scanning process. In this work, the effects of the sample surface contact stiffness and the geometrical parameters such as the ratio of the vertical extension length to the horizontal cantilever length and the distance of the vertical extension... 

This paper is devoted to the characterization of the surface defects using a recently developed AFM technique named as frequency and force modulation AFM (FFM-AFM). The simulated system includes a recently developed gold coated AFM probe which interacts with a sample including single-atom vacancy and impurities. In order to examine the behavior of the above system including different transition metals, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation with Sutton-Chen (SC) interatomic potential is used. Along this line, an imaging simulation of the probe and sample is performed, and the effects of the horizontal scan speed, the effective frequency set-point, the cantilever stiffness, the tip-sample rest... 

The purpose of this paper is the enhancement of the AFM sensitivity through the selection of an optimized FGM micro cantilever beam. In this paper, resonant frequencies and sensitivities of first two modes of micro cantilever which is made of functionally graded materials are investigated and a relationship is developed to evaluate the sensitivity of FGM micro cantilever. Effect of volume fraction of materials and surface contact stiffness on the resonant frequencies and sensitivities are studied. The rectangular FGM beam is modeled by an Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. It is assumed that beam is made of a mixture of metal and ceramic with properties varying through the thickness following a... 

This research regards to a two-dimensional lateral pushing nanomanipulation using Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). Yet a reliable control of the AFM tip position during the AFM-based manipulation process is a chief issue since the tip can jump over the target nanoparticle and then the process can fail. However, a detailed Modeling and understanding of the interaction forces on the AFM tip is important for prosperous manipulation control and a nanometer resolution tip positioning. In the proposed model, Lund-Grenoble (LuGre) dynamic friction model is used as friction force on the contact surface between the nanoparticle and the substrate. This model leads to a stick-slip behavior of the... 

Application of atomic force microscope (AFM) as a manipulator for pushing-based positioning of nanoparticles has been of considerable interest during recent years. Nevertheless comprehensive researches has been done on modeling and the dynamics analysis of nanoparticle behavior during the positioning process. The development of dynamics modeling of nanoparticle is crucial to have an accurate manipulation. In this paper, a comprehensive model of pushing based manipulation of a nanoparticle by AFM probe is presented. The proposed nanomanipulation model consists of all effective phenomena in nanoscale. Nanoscale interaction forces, elastic deformation in contact areas and friction forces in... 

The present research work aims to employ plasma focus in order to deposit molybdenum (Mo) on the 304 stainless steel substrate. The processing parameters were shot numbers as well as the distance of substrate from the anode tip. Stereo, atom force microscopy (AFM) and field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to study the deposited coatings. Microhardness measurements were also performed on the coatings. Results indicated that the plasma focus can be successfully applied to deposit Mo anode on the stainless steel substrate. The coatings contained discrete pores with sizes varying by processing parameters. The... 

The purpose of this paper is the enhancement of the AFM sensitivity through the selection of an optimized FGM micro cantilever beam. In this paper, resonant frequencies and sensitivities of first two modes of micro cantilever which is made of functionally graded materials are investigated and a relationship is developed to evaluate the sensitivity of FGM micro cantilever. Effect of volume fraction of materials and surface contact stiffness on the resonant frequencies and sensitivities are studied. The rectangular FGM beam is modeled by an Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. It is assumed that beam is made of a mixture of metal and ceramic with properties varying through the thickness following a... 

This paper is devoted to the characterization of the surface defects using a recently developed AFM technique named as frequency and force modulation AFM (FFM-AFM). The simulated system includes a recently developed gold coated AFM probe which interacts with a sample including single-atom vacancy and impurities. In order to examine the behavior of the above system including different transition metals, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation with Sutton-Chen (SC) interatomic potential is used. Along this line, an imaging simulation of the probe and sample is performed, and the effects of the horizontal scan speed, the effective frequency set-point, the cantilever stiffness, the tip-sample rest...