Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, July 29 – August 2, 2012.

A Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP) nanotechnology course curriculum integrated a Hitachi TM-1000 table top scanning electron microscope (SEM) into the classroom to excite and educate gifted and talented high school students interested in this emerging field of research. Students learned about synthesis, characterization and applications of nanotechnologies to encourage them to begin thinking about why and how properties of matter change at the nanoscale. The syllabus was created to introduce fundamental concepts like introductory quantum mechanics, atomic bonding, allotropes of carbon and applications including nanomedicine, nanoelectronics, nano-textiles, bionanotechnology and nanometals. The classroom environment allowed students to take intellectual risks and the course content was presented through a variety of methods to utilize the Kolb learning model and encompass intellectual, personal, social and practical learning methods. The teaching approaches employed traditional principle based lectures, but also included guest speakers, experiential learning activities and both project or problem based learning laboratories.

Thin films (<100nm) of diblock copolymers are being investigated for various applications including templates for nanopatterning [1], electronic packaging materials, and biomedical applications. In such applications it is essential that stable defect free films be produced repeatedly. Because long and short range forces (like van der Waals) dominate thin polymer films, instabilities are introduced in the films when they are spin-coated onto hydrophobic substrates resulting in dewetting of the film from the substrate. Dewetting is initiated at a nucleation site in a metastable film leading to the formation of a dry patch and proceeds to grow by transport of material away from the nucleation site, forming a lip that surrounds the hole. Highly symmetrical structures form during progression of the dewetting process and completion of the process can be identified when all holes coalesce forming polygons outlined by droplets of the polymer film [2].

Self-assembled monolayers (SAM) and multilayers of organic materials have been intensely studied in the past years, due to their numerous potential applications as, for example, lubricants, corrosioninhibitors and/or adhesion-promoters [1,2]. In this talk, we will present results of several studies carried out using Atomic Force Microscopy to investigate octadecylphosphonic acid (OPA) SAM deposited on mica. We have assessed various mechanisms of assembling, disassembling and reassembling the SAM on mica. The SAM deposition method employed in this work was drip coating using an OPA solution. We have used two different solvents, which exhibit very different OPA solubility, in this work: ethanol and trihydrofuran (THF). Regarding the assembling studies, we will show the formation of groups of OPA double-layers as the initial deposition stage (deposition time < 2 seconds) when using ethanol-based solutions. We will also show that annealing such samples at 60°C produces, favorably, OPA quadruple-layers, as shown in figures la and lb, respectively.

The atomic force microscope (AFM) has allowed microscopists to observe surface topography of non-conductive samples on the atomic level. One AFM mode that scanned probe microscopists have recently shown an interest in is the phase lag imaging mode. It has already been demonstrated that the resulting phase lag data can be used to identify different densities of microlayered polyethylene. However a quantitative understanding of phase lag imaging has yet to be fully developed. With a better understanding of the phase lag data it may be possible to estimate the modulus or other material properties of a sample from an AFM phase image alone.

The need for better understanding phase lag data is essential to increasing the knowledge of a how a material's microstructure behaves on the nanometer scale. This investigation focused on AFM phase lag data produced while scanning microstructures with large differences in modulus values between the compositional phases.

The Internet has become a very valuable educational resource. It allows a person to be able to reach a very large, diverse audience across the world with ease. With NSF Combined Research-Curriculum Development (CRCD) funding, we have begun to use the Internet as an educational and technical resource for people wanting to learn about Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM). We have set up a web page with informative information for people of all levels of SPM knowledge. We are actively combining SPM research and education into the materials science and engineering undergraduate curriculum. We also use the web page as a way to publish our findings to help other universities integrate SPM into their curriculums.

The URL is: http://spm.aif.ncsu.edu

The web page is divided into seven main components. Each component has a specific intended audience and purpose. We have designed some components for people who have never heard of SPM and others for people who run SPM labs.

Gaps in the understanding and interpretation of data collected in various SPM modes are a direct result of the rapidly advancing scanning probe microscopy (SPM) technology. This systematic study is coupling classical metallurgical samples with a new surface variation mapping technique in an effort to further the quantitative comprehension of atomic force microscopy (AFM) phase imaging.

Phase imaging is a technique that has exhibited the ability to provide the microscopist with qualitative information of a material’s microstructure on the nanometer scale. Regions of a microstructure that exhibit incongruous mechanical properties like: friction, elastic modulus, composition, and viscoelasticity are displayed, in the resulting image, as regions of differing contrast. An example of this type of phase contrast is clearly seen in FIG. 1. A quantification of the phase shift will give new insight into the cause of the contrast mechanism, and reason for contrast reversal.