Heteroepitaxial gold (111) rings on mica substrates

Two-dimensionally arranged gold rings were prepared by depositing a polymeric membrane bearing a dense array of uniform pores onto a mica substrate, filling the pores with a solution of a gold precursor, evaporation of the solvent and calcinations. The epitaxy of gold rings is confirmed by x-ray diffraction measurements, and the epitaxial relationship between gold rings and the mica was found to be Au(111)[1-10]parallel to mica(001)[010]. The polar and azimuthal angular spreads are 0.3 degrees and 1 degrees, respectively, which is at least equal to or better than the quality of the corresponding epitaxial gold-film on mica. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Adsorption behaviors of methanol, ethanol, n-butanol, n-hexanol and n-octanol on mica surface studied by atomic force microscopy

The adsorption behavior of methanol, ethanol, n-butanol, n-hexanol and n-octanol on mica surface was investigated by atomic force microscopy. All these alcohols have formed homogeneous films with different characteristics. Upright standing bilayer structure was formed on methanol adsorbed mica surface. For ethanol, bilayer structure and monolayer one were simultaneously formed, while for n-butanol and n-hexanol, rough films were observed. What was formed for n-octanol? Close-packed flat film was observed on n-octanol adsorbed mica substrate, the film was assumed to be a tilted monolayer. The possible adsorption model for each alcohol molecule was proposed according to its adsorption behavior.

Direct patterning of rhodamine 6G molecules on mica by dip-pen nanolithography

Dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) has been developed to pattern monolayer film of various molecules on suitable substrate through the controlled movement of ink-coated atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip, which makes DPN a potentially powerful tool for making the functional nanoscale devices. In this paper, the direct patterning of rhodamine 6G on mica by dip-pen nanolithography was demonstrated. R6G features patterned on the mica was successfully achieved with different tip movement which can be programmed by Nanoscript(TM) language. From the AFM image of R6G patterns, we know that R6G molecule is flatly binding to the mica surface through electrostatic interaction, thus stable R6G nanostructures could be formed on mica. The influence of translation speed and contact time on DPN was discussed. The method can be extended to direct patterning of many other organic molecules, and should open many opportunities for miniaturized optical device and site-specific biological staining.

A novel strategy to construct a flat-lying DNA monolayer on a mica surface

Flat-lying, densely packed DNA monolayers in which DNA chains are well organized have been successfully constructed on a mica surface by dropping a droplet of a DNA solution on a freshly cleaved mica surface and subsequently transferring the mica to ultrapure water for developing. The formation kinetics of such monolayers was studied by tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM) technique. A series of TMAFM images of DNA films obtained at various developing times show that before the sample was immersed into water for developing the DNA chains always seriously aggregated by contacting, crossing, or overlapping and formed large-scale networks on the mica surface. During developing, the fibers of DNA networks gradually dispersed into many smaller fibers up to single DNA chains. At the same time, the fibers or DNA chains also experienced rearrangement to decrease electrostatic repulsion and interfacial Gibbs free energy. Finally, a flat-lying, densely packed DNA monolayer was formed. A formation mechanism of the DNA monolayers was proposed that consists of aggregation, dispersion, and rearrangement. The effects of both DNA and Mg2+ concentration in the formation solution on DNA monolayer formation were also investigated in detail.

Self-assembled monolayer growth of octanol on mica: Atomic force microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy studies

The growth kinetics of self-assembled monolayers formed by exposing freshly cleaved mica to octanol solution has been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). AFM images of samples immersed in octanol for varying exposure times showed that before forming a complete monolayer the octanol molecules aggregated in the form of small islands on the mica surface. With the proceeding of immersion, these islands gradually grew and merged into larger patches. Finally, a close-packed film with uniform appearance and few defects was formed. The thickness of the final film showed 0.8 nm in height, which corresponded to the 40degrees tilt molecular conformation of the octanol monolayer. The growth mechanisms consisted of nucleation, growth, and coalescence of the submonolayer films. The growth process was also confirmed by FTIR. And the surface coverage of the submonolayer islands estimated from AFM images and FTIR spectra as a function of immersion time was quite consistent.

AFM studies of DNA structures on mica in the presence of alkaline earth metal ions

As counterions of DNA on mica, Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+ and Ba2+ were used for,clarifying whether DNA molecules equilibrate or are trapped on mica surface. End to end distance and contour lengths were determined from statistical analysis of AFM data. It was revealed that DNA molecules can equilibrate on mica when Mg2+, Ca2+ and Sr2+ are counterions. When Ba2+ is present, significantly crossovered DNA molecules indicate that it is most difficult for DNA to equilibrate on mica and the trapping degree is different under different preparation conditions. In the presence of ethanol, using AFM we have also observed the dependence of B A conformational transition on counterion identities. The four alkaline earth metal ions cause the B-A transition in different degrees, in which Sr2+ induces the greatest structural transition.

Study of methanol adsorption on mica, graphite and ITO glass by using tapping mode atomic force microscopy

Tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) was applied to study the adsorption behavior of methanol on mica, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and indium-tin oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates. On mica and HOPG substrates surfaces, the thin films of methanol with bilayer and multilayer were observed, respectively. The formation of irregular islands of methanol was also found on HOPG surface. On ITO surface only aggregates and clusters of methanol molecules were formed. The influence of sample preparation on the adsorption was discussed.

A mica-modified quartz resonator for a quartz crystal microbalance study

Mica, as a bridge of the study for combining between quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and atomic force microscope (AFM), was successfully modified onto the piezoelectric quartz crystal (PQC). This mica-modified piezoelectric quartz crystal (mica-PQC) can be stably oscillated with a shift frequency of +/-1 Hz per half an hour in air. Using this mica-PQC, the processes of DNA adsorbed onto the mica surface were studied in liquid phase. The results show that a bivalent cation, such as Mn2+, can be used as an ionic bridge to immobilize DNA on mica surface. The image of DNA on the mica surface was also obtained by AFM. Mica-PQC gives the possibility of a combination between QCM and AFM in situ.

一种基于新型数据预测方法的MICA仿真研究

在多元统计过程监控中,为解决因未知过程数据统计分布而产生误报漏报的现象,提出一种结合多向独立元分析法(MICA)和广义相关系数(GCC)数据预测的综合方法,进行在线监控过程的仿真。MICA分析方法能有效分解各变量的关联关系,且不需考虑建模数据是否符合正态分布,用此方法计算的独立元变量能更好地描述过程的变化规律。为提高预报未来过程故障的能力,提出用广义相关系数法进行数据预测:确定与运行轨迹相似的监控模型库中的轨迹,并使其相应部分承接于运行轨迹之后。现场采集聚氯乙烯聚合过程的数据进行仿真,仿真结果显示:对于在线监控和在线故障诊断方面,这种新型预测方法优于其它传统处理预测问题的方法。

Growth of liquid bridge in AFM

Capillary forces are dominant in adhesive forces measured with an atomic force microscope (AFM) in ambient air, which are thought to be dependent on water film thickness, relative humidity and the free energy of the water film. In this paper, besides these factors, we study the nature of the 'pull-off' force on a variety of atmospheres as a function of the contact time. It is found that capillary forces strongly depend on the contact time. In lower relative humidity atmosphere, the adhesion force is almost independent of the contact time. However, in higher relative humidity, the adhesion force increases with the contact time. Based on the experiment and a model that we present in this paper, the growth of the liquid bridge can be seen as undergoing two processes: one is water vapour condensation; the other is the motion of the thin liquid film that is absorbed on the substrate. The experiment and the growth model presented in this paper have direct relevance to the working mechanism of AFM in ambient air.

The photon scanning tunneling microscope and its applications

A simple photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM) is described. Its lateral resolution (similar to 10nm with a maximal scanning range of 10 mu m x 10 mu m ) is much better than that of a conventional optical microscope. Its principle, the fiber optic tip fabrication and PSTM images of different samples such as mica, HDPE and LiNbO3 are presented.

聚合物薄膜的表面形态结构及相关纳米材料制备

本工作主要从实验上探索了基板、溶液浓度、溶剂性质、组成对均聚物、嵌段共聚物以及嵌段共聚物与均聚物共混薄膜表面形态结构的影响。在此基础上，又以嵌段共聚物薄膜为模板，制备了多种纳米粒子。用原子力显微镜（AFM）研究了超稀PS溶液在固体基板上的表面形貌、表面粗糙度及其润湿性质。研究发现：在所用PS分子量范围内（1）随分子量的增加，退火前PS微区的平均直径增加，而平均高度减小。退火后PS微区的平均直径减小，而平均高度增加。（2）首次观察到：薄膜的表面粗糙度（Ra）除了与溶剂的蒸汽压及所用基板有关外，还和溶剂的偶极矩有关。无论在Si片还是mica上，当l所用溶剂具粼目近的偶极矩不同的蒸汽压时，蒸汽压越小，表面Ra也越小；当所用溶剂具有相近的蒸汽压不同的偶极矩时，偶极矩越大，表面Ra就越小。对所用的每一种溶剂，Si片上薄膜的Ra均大于mica上薄膜的Ra，这可能是由Si片表面的粗糙度大于mica表面的粗糙度引起的。以PS-b-P4VP嵌段共聚物为研究对象，探索了共聚物组成、基板、溶液浓度和溶剂对薄膜表面形貌的影响，并对非对称PS-b-P4VP薄膜在甲醇蒸气下表面形貌随时间的演变过程进行了观察。首次观察到：本体为柱状结构的Ps-b-P4VP薄膜，随着在甲醇蒸气中处理时间的增加，形貌从无特征表面、凹陷结构和条带共存的杂化形貌、条状微区、六方排列的凹陷结构、再到条状微区的转变。不同膜厚其形貌转变程度亦不同，膜越厚观察到的形貌转变就越多。而对于厚度约为18.6nm本体为球状结构的PS-b-P4VP薄膜，当在甲醇蒸气中退火时，只观察到了六方排列的凹陷结构并且这种结构不随退火时间的增加而改变。通过对不同组成PS-b-P4VP／hPS混合物薄膜在云母和石墨上表面形貌的研究，首次观察到：在云母基板上随混合物中Φps的增加，表面形貌经历着由六方有序的球状微区向条状结构再向球状微区最后到宏观相分离结构的转变；而在石墨基板上，随Φps的增加，表面形貌逐渐由条带结构向球状结构转变，未观察到明显的宏观相分离。以PS-b-P4vP胶束薄膜为模板合成了Ag-Pd及ZnO纳米结构，并对不同表面活性剂包裹的CdSe在PS-b-P4VP薄膜中的选择性分布进行了探索。 以PS-b-P4VP胶束薄膜为研究对象研究了溶剂蒸气及酸溶液对其表面形貌的影响。实验结果表明，除了甲醇蒸气，用一元酸处理薄膜也能得到纳米孔结构。