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| Author(s): |
Vitor Toshiyuki Abrão Oiko
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin |
| Defense date: | 2014-02-06 |
| Examining board members: |
Daniel Mário Ugarte;
Rodrigo Prioli Menezes;
Bernardo Ruegger almeida Neves;
Kleber Roberto Pirota;
Fernando Alvarez
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| Advisor: | Daniel Mário Ugarte; Varlei Rodrigues |
| Abstract | |
The study of nanosystems has attracted many attention in recent years, mainly due to their novel possible technological applications. Many efforts have been made in this area, however several open questions regarding the comprehension of such structures remain. A major challenge concerns the manipulation and the controlled positioning of nano-objects, together with the quantification of the involved forces and the mechanical characterization at the nanoscale. Many advances have been achieved by combining the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the atomic force microscope (AFM), conducting thus in situ experiments that profit from SEM¿s resolution and imaging and from AFM¿s ability to measure forces in nanoscale systems. In this thesis we treat the quantification of forces with intensity < N applied during in situ nanomanipulation experiments performed inside a SEM by developing a force sensor based on quartz tuning forks. Our approach comprises the technical aspects relevant to the sensor¿s assembly and its operation, from the issue of measuring forces of the order of nN on individual nano-objects, to its application on nanosystems. Key points of development such as the sensor¿s design, electronics, calibration and applications are described in details. A calibration process based on the in situ bending AFM cantilevers is carried out to enable the force quantification. Subsequently the force measurement is done exclusively by the TF¿s resonance curve, being completely independent of the microscopy images. Forces in the range of 1-100 nN were measured, and the sensor¿s application was considered between 4 nN and 40 nN. The precison acquired was of a few nN, ?F ?1-4 nN. To test the sensor in situ strain experiments were performed on bundles of carbon nanotubes from which we measured quantitatively the van der Waals¿ influence on the dynamic friction during the sliding of adjacent bundles. The forces acquired were then in the range of 14-35 nN (AU) | |