Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Ultrasonic/Shear-Force Microscope: A Metrology Tool For Surface Science And Technology, Andres H. La Rosa, Nan Li, K. Asante

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper describes recent results obtained with the Ultrasonic/Shear-Force Microscope (SUNM), an analytical tool suitable for investigating the quite different dynamic displayed by fluid-like films when subjected to mesoscopic confinement and while in intimate contact with two sliding solid boundaries. The SUNM uses two sensory modules to concurrently but independently monitor the effects that fluid-mediated interactions exert on two sliding bodies: the microscope’s sharp probe (attached to a piezoelectric sensor) and the analyzed sample (attached to an ultrasonic transducer). This dual capability allows correlating the fluid-like film’s viscoelastic properties with changes in the probe’s resonance frequency and the generation of …