Free energy analysis of system comprising biased atomic force microscope tip, water meniscus and dielectric surface

2005/05/18 by Sergei F. Lyuksyutov, Lyuksyutov, Sergei F., Pavel B. Paramonov +4
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions #FOS: Physical sciences #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Surface Roughness and Optical Measurements #cond-mat.mtrl-sci

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0505457

arxiv created 2005/05/18 · openalex publication_date 2005/05/18 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We are concerned with free energy analysis of the system comprising an AFM tip, water meniscus, and polymer film. Under applied electrostatic potential, the minimum in free energy is at a distance greater than the initial tip--substrate separation in the absence of potential. This equilibrium distance, t₀, mostly depends on the tip bias V and cantilever spring constant k_s, where as variations of t₀ is less pronounced with respect to the dielectric constants, and polymer film thickness. Polarization of water meniscus under the AFM tip appears to be the dominant factor enabling the creation of mechanical work for tip retraction.

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