Owen, D.S. (2023) Toward a better modulus at shallow indentations—Enhanced tip and sample characterization for quantitative atomic force microscopy. Microscopy Research and Technique, 86 (1). pp. 84-96. ISSN 1059-910X
Abstract
Approximations of the geometry of indenting probes, particularly when using shallow indentations on soft materials, can lead to the erroneous reporting of mechanical data in atomic force microscopy (AFM). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) identified a marked change in geometry toward the tip apex where the conical probe assumes a near linear flat-punch geometry. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a ubiquitous elastomer within the materials and biological sciences. Its elastic modulus is widely characterized but the data are dispersed and can display orders of magnitude disparity. Herein, we compare the moduli gathered from a range of analytical techniques and relate these to the molecular architecture identified with AFM. We present a simple method that considers sub-100 nm indentations of PDMS using the Hertz and Sneddon contact mechanics models, and how this could be used to improve the output of shallow indentations on similarly soft materials, such as polymers or cells.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | contact mechanics; polydimethylsiloxane; probe geometry; quantitative atomic force microscopy; scanning electron microscopy |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Nov 2022 11:49 |
Last Modified: | 26 Sep 2024 09:43 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/jemt.24261 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:193641 |