Scanning Probe Microscopy Of Soft Matter

Well-structured and adopting a pedagogical approach, this self-contained monograph covers the fundamentals of scanning probe microscopy, showing how to use the techniques for investigating physical and chemical properties on the nanoscale and how they can be used for a wide range of soft materials. It concludes with a section on the latest techniques in nanomanipulation and patterning. This first book to focus on the applications is a must-have for both newcomers and established researchers using scanning probe microscopy in soft matter research. From the contents: * Atomic Force Microscopy and Other Advanced Imaging Modes * Probing of Mechanical, Thermal Chemical and Electrical Properties * Amorphous, Poorly Ordered and Organized Polymeric Materials * Langmuir-Blodgett and Layer-by-Layer Structures * Multi-Component Polymer Systems and Fibers * Colloids and Microcapsules * Biomaterials and Biological Structures * Nanolithography with Intrusive AFM Tipand Dip-Pen Nanolithography * Microcantilever-Based Sensors

The investigation and manipulation of matter on the atomic scale have been revolutionized by scanning tunneling microscopy and related scanning probe techniques. This book is the first to provide a clear and comprehensive introduction to this subject. Beginning with the theoretical background of scanning tunneling microscopy, the design and instrumentation of practical STM and associated systems are described in detail, including topographic imaging, local tunneling barrier height measurements, tunneling spectroscopy, and local potentiometry. A treatment of the experimental techniques used in scanning force microscopy and other scanning probe techniques rounds out this section. The second part discusses representative applications of these techniques in fields such as condensed matter physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, and nanotechnology, so this book will be extremely valuable to upper-division students and researchers in these areas.

The publication entitled "Surface Studies by Scanning Tunneling Mi Rl croscopy" by Binnig, Rohrer, Gerber and Weibel of the IBM Research Lab oratory in Riischlikon in 1982 immediately raised considerable interest in the sur face science community. It was demonstrated in Reference R1 that images from atomic structures of surfaces like individual steps could be obtained simply by scanning the surface with a sharp metal tip, which was kept in a constant distance of approximately 10 A from the sample surface. The distance control in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was realized by a feedback circuit, where the electri cal tunneling current through the potential barrier between tip and sample is used for regulating the tip position with a piezoelectric xyz-system. A similar experi mental approach has already been described by Young et al. for the determination l of the macroscopic roughness of a surface. A number of experimental difficulties had to be solved by the IBM group until this conceptual simple microscopic method could be applied successfully with atomic resolution. Firstly, distance and scanning control of the tip have to be operated with sufficient precision to be sensitive to atomic structures. Secondly, sample holder and tunneling unit have to be designed in such a way that external vibrations do not influence the sample-tip distance and that thermal or other drift effects become small enough during measurement of one image.

This 2-volume set includes extensive discussions of scattering techniques (light, neutron and X-ray) and related fluctuation and grating techniques that are at the forefront of this field. Most of the scattering techniques are Fourier space techniques. Recent advances have seen the development of powerful direct imaging methods such as atomic force microscopy and scanning probe microscopy. In addition, techniques that can be used to manipulate soft matter on the nanometer scale are also in rapid development. These include the scanning probe microscopy technique mentioned above as well as optical and magnetic tweezers.

This 2-volume set includes extensive discussions of scattering techniques (light, neutron and X-ray) and related fluctuation and grating techniques that are at the forefront of this field. Most of the scattering techniques are Fourier space techniques. Recent advances have seen the development of powerful direct imaging methods such as atomic force microscopy and scanning probe microscopy. In addition, techniques that can be used to manipulate soft matter on the nanometer scale are also in rapid development. These include the scanning probe microscopy technique mentioned above as well as optical and magnetic tweezers.

Techniques of nanoscale functional imaging and spectroscopy have blossomed since the invention of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) tools, starting with scanning tunneling microscopy in the early 1980s. The ability to resolve topographical features with nanoscale—sometimes atomic—precision has revolutionized our understanding of molecules, matter, and living systems. These observations have led scientists to pose increasingly more complex questions about properties beyond morphology and their evolution upon external stimuli. Overall, SPM-based schemes provide versatile ways to probe structural, electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties of materials at the nanoscale. Getting started with SPM can be intimidating. This digital primer aims to provide undergraduate and graduate students majoring in various fields of science and engineering with a practical guide to grasp essential concepts and principles related to SPM image and spectra formation and their interpretation. This guide may also be helpful to researchers who are considering new ways of evaluating nanoscale properties of materials, devices, or living systems as applicable to their respective fields. Because of the extensive literature on the developments and applications of SPM, it was impossible to comprehensively cover all aspects of the field. Hence, deliberate choices were made to emphasize some techniques that have not been discussed as extensively in the literature but hold great promise to understand complex systems at the nanoscale.

The Advanced Study Institute provided an opportunity for researchers in universities, industry and National and International Laboratories, from the disciplines ofmaterials science, physics, chemistry and engineering to meet together in an assessment of the impact of electron and scanning probe microscopy on advanced material research. Since these researchers have traditionally relied upon different approaches, due to their different scientific background, to advanced materials problem solving, presentations and discussion within the Institute sessions were initially devoted to developing a set ofmutually understood basic concepts, inherently related to different techniques ofcharacterization by microscopy and spectroscopy. Particular importance was placed on Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM), High Resolution Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopy (HRTEM, HRSTEM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM). It was recognized that the electronic structure derived directly from EELS analysis as well as from atomic positions in HRTEM or High Angle Annular Dark Field STEM can be used to understand the macroscopic behaviour of materials. The emphasis, however, was upon the analysis of the electronic band structure of grain boundaries, fundamental for the understanding of macroscopic quantities such as strength, cohesion, plasticity, etc.

This book provides an interdisciplinary overview of a new and broad class of materials under the unifying name Nanostructured Soft Matter. It covers materials ranging from short amphiphilic molecules to block copolymers, proteins, colloids and their composites, microemulsions and bio-inspired systems such as vesicles.