<title>Application of scanning force microscopy and near-field optical microscopy to liquid crystalline systems: observing free surfaces, smectic structural forces, and molecular orientation</title>

As the year ends there is a bumper crop of announcements of advances that I find absolutely amazing. First of course is the continued clever use of light as a veritable tool in manipulating everything from atoms (entrapping them in “atomic molasses”) to having tugs of war with biological motors (using “light tweezers”). But these developments will be for discussion another time. What I want to talk about in this installment are advances in Near Field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM), which has now been used by Chichester and Betzig to visualize single molecules.In classical (far field) optics, resolution is limited by diffraction to about 1/2 the wavelength of the radiation used for imaging. Near field optics overcome this limitation by use of scanning techniques similar to those employed in Scanning Tunneling or Scanning Force Microscopy.

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Surface morphology of a liquid crystalline side-chain polymer investigated by scanning force microscopy

Polymer Bulletin ◽

10.1007/bf00587892 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 487-492 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

K. D. Jandt ◽

D. G. McDonnell ◽

J. M. Blackmore ◽

M. J. Miles

Keyword(s):

Surface Morphology ◽

Liquid Crystalline ◽

Scanning Force Microscopy ◽

Side Chain ◽

Chain Polymer ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Scanning Force

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Microstructural Defects in SrTiO3 Bicrystals and Their Influence on YBa2Cu3O7 Film Growth and Junction Performance

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-474-91 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 474 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J. W. P. Hsu ◽

E. B. McDaniel ◽

R. A. Rao ◽

C. B. Eom

Keyword(s):

Grain Boundary ◽

Film Growth ◽

Near Field ◽

Scanning Force Microscopy ◽

Optical Microscope ◽

Structural Defects ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Microstructural Defects ◽

Scanning Force ◽

Substrate Defects

ABSTRACTWe use a near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) to investigate microstructural defects at the fusion boundaries of SrTiO3 bicrystal substrates. The optical transmission across the fusion boundary shows circular dark spots with diameters varying from 0.1 to 1 μm that are distributed non-uniformly along the boundary. After detailed characterization of the substrates, a thin YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) film (∼ 40 nm) was deposited on a 24° bicrystal. Combining NSOM and scanning force microscopy, we show that these substrate defects can cause the grain boundary of a YBCO thin film grown on the bicrystal to wander up to 0.8 micron in the film. Strain fields associated with these substrate defects are attributed to their influence on YBCO growth. The relation between these structural defects and the electrical characteristics of YBCO grain boundary junctions are also discussed.

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Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (Stm) and Scanning Force Microscopy (Sfm) of Liquid Crystals and Polymers

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-332-423 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 332 ◽

Author(s):

K. D. Jandt ◽

T. J. Mcmaster ◽

D. G. Mcdonnell ◽

J. M. Blackmore ◽

M. J. Miles

Keyword(s):

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy ◽

Liquid Crystalline ◽

Elevated Temperatures ◽

Crystalline Polymer ◽

Scanning Force Microscopy ◽

Scanning Tunneling ◽

Tunneling Microscopy ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Morphological Studies ◽

Scanning Force

ABSTRACTRecent progress in the field of liquid crystal materials and oriented polymers studied by nearfield scanned probe microscopies (SPM) is presented here. The investigations were focused on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) results of antiferroelectric liquid crystalline molecules observed at different elevated temperatures corresponding to different bulk mesophases of the material, and on surface morphological studies of a liquid crystalline polymer by scanning force microscopy (SFM). In the field of oriented thermoplastic polymers, SFM images of the morphology and molecular packing in the outermost surface of poly(butene-1) films are presented.

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Scanned tip measurement of deep vertical facets on a flat surface: Measuring roughness on gaas laser waveguide mirrors

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100148496 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 532-533

Author(s):

Chang Shen ◽

Phil Fraundorf ◽

Robert W. Harrick

Keyword(s):

Integrated Circuits ◽

Flat Surface ◽

Scanning Force Microscopy ◽

Scanning Tunneling ◽

Tunneling Microscopy ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits ◽

Laser Waveguide ◽

Scanning Force ◽

Gaas Laser

Monolithic integration of optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC) requires high quantity etched laser facets which prevent the developing of more-highly-integrated OEIC's. The causes of facet roughness are not well understood, and improvement of facet quality is hampered by the difficulty in measuring the surface roughness. There are several approaches to examining facet roughness qualitatively, such as scanning force microscopy (SFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The challenge here is to allow more straightforward monitoring of deep vertical etched facets, without the need to cleave out test samples. In this presentation, we show air based STM and SFM images of vertical dry-etched laser facets, and discuss the image acquisition and roughness measurement processes. Our technique does not require precision cleaving. We use a traditional tip instead of the T shape tip used elsewhere to preventing “shower curtain” profiling of the sidewall. We tilt the sample about 30 to 50 degrees to avoid the curtain effect.

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Log-log scale roughness spectroscopy of surfaces

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100146965 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 224-225

Author(s):

P. Fraundorf ◽

B. Armbruster

Keyword(s):

Power Spectrum ◽

Autocorrelation Function ◽

Power Spectra ◽

Scanning Force Microscopy ◽

Scanning Tunneling ◽

Tunneling Microscopy ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Scanning Force ◽

Lateral Structure ◽

Scale Roughness

Optical interferometry, confocal light microscopy, stereopair scanning electron microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and scanning force microscopy, can produce topographic images of surfaces on size scales reaching from centimeters to Angstroms. Second moment (height variance) statistics of surface topography can be very helpful in quantifying “visually suggested” differences from one surface to the next. The two most common methods for displaying this information are the Fourier power spectrum and its direct space transform, the autocorrelation function or interferogram. Unfortunately, for a surface exhibiting lateral structure over several orders of magnitude in size, both the power spectrum and the autocorrelation function will find most of the information they contain pressed into the plot’s origin. This suggests that we plot power in units of LOG(frequency)≡-LOG(period), but rather than add this logarithmic constraint as another element of abstraction to the analysis of power spectra, we further recommend a shift in paradigm.

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Anisotropy of Nanoindentation – a tool for the determination of nanocrystal orientation ?

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-779-w5.14 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 779 ◽

Author(s):

David Christopher ◽

Steven Kenny ◽

Roger Smith ◽

Asta Richter ◽

Bodo Wolf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crystal Surface ◽

Scanning Force Microscopy ◽

Depth Range ◽

Dislocation Loops ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Pile Up ◽

Out Of Plane ◽

Scanning Force ◽

Dynamics Simulations

AbstractThe pile up patterns arising in nanoindentation are shown to be indicative of the sample crystal symmetry. To explain and interpret these patterns, complementary molecular dynamics simulations and experiments have been performed to determine the atomistic mechanisms of the nanoindentation process in single crystal Fe{110}. The simulations show that dislocation loops start from the tip and end on the crystal surface propagating outwards along the four in-plane <111> directions. These loops carry material away from the indenter and form bumps on the surface along these directions separated from the piled-up material around the indenter hole. Atoms also move in the two out-of-plane <111> directions causing propagation of subsurface defects and pile-up around the hole. This finding is confirmed by scanning force microscopy mapping of the imprint, the piling-up pattern proving a suitable indicator of the surface crystallography. Experimental force-depth curves over the depth range of a few nanometers do not appear smooth and show distinct pop-ins. On the sub-nanometer scale these pop-ins are also visible in the simulation curves and occur as a result of the initiation of the dislocation loops from the tip.

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Structural and Spectroscopic Study of Langmuir-Schäfer Films of Bis Zn-Ethane-Bridged Porphyrins Dimer

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-771-l7.29 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 771 ◽

Author(s):

G. Panzera ◽

S. Conoci ◽

S. Coffa ◽

B. Pignataro ◽

S. Sortino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Pressure ◽

Scanning Force Microscopy ◽

Structural Features ◽

Solid Surfaces ◽

Condensed Phases ◽

Brewster Angle Microscopy ◽

Force Microscopy ◽

Vis Spectroscopy ◽

Scanning Force ◽

Supramolecular Aggregates

AbstractThin films (1-24 layers) of bis-zinc ethane-bridged porphyrin dimer (1) have been transferred on solid surfaces, by the Langmuir- Schäfer (LS) horizontal method. The related surface pressurearea isotherm curve shows that in dependence of the film pressure different condensed phases may occur in the monolayer. The inspection of the monolayer by Brewster Angle Microscopy (BAM) reveals the presence of peculiar networks whose structural features seemingly change upon film compression. On the other hand, the Scanning Force Microscopy (SFM) analysis performed on LS films shows fractal networks constituted by nanoscopic supramolecular aggregates, whose shape and size depend again on the LS deposition surface pressure. Finally, also UV-vis spectroscopy measurements indicates that the absorption is almost linearly related to the film thickness that is directly connected to the surface pressure.

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