• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.261-267
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• 2024

An unconventional fabrication technique of nanoelectrode was developed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and hydrogel. Until now, the precise control of electroactive area down to a few nm² has always been an obstacle, which limits the wide application of nanoelectrodes. Here, the nanometer-sized contact between the boron-doped diamond (BDD) as conductive AFM tip and the agarose hydrogel as solid electrolyte was well governed by the feedback amplitude of oscillation in the non-contact mode of AFM. Consequently, this low-cost and feasible approach gives rise to new possibilities for the fabrication of nanoelectrodes. The electroactive area controlled by the set point of AFM was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) of the ferrocenmethanol (FcMeOH) combined with quasi-solid agarose hydrogel as an electrolyte. Single copper (Cu) nanoparticle was deposited at the apex of the AFM tip using this platform whose electrocatalytic activity for nitrate reduction was then investigated by CV and Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), respectively.

• Ceramist
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.381-392
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• 2019

Recently, demands for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) in various fields are increasing. In particular, understanding of the reaction mechanism occurring at the electrode-electrolyte surface/interface is significant for the development of advanced LIBs. Meanwhile, research and development of LIBs highly requires a new specific characterization approach. For example, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been utilized to the LIB research field for various purposes such as investigation of topography, electrochemical reactions, ion transport phenomena, and measurement of surface potential at high resolution. Advances in the AFM analysis have made it possible to inspect various material properties such as surface friction and Young's modulus. Therefore, this technique is expected to be a powerful method in the LIB research field. Here, we review and discuss ways to apply AFM to LIB studies.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.99-106
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• 1998

Recently, scientists introduced a new type of microscope capable of investigating nonconducting surfaces in an atomic scale, which is called AFM (Atomic Force Microscope). It was an innovative attempt to overcome the limitation of STM (Scanning Tunnelling Microscope) which has been able to obtain the image of conducting surfaces. Surfaces of samples are imaged with atomic resolution. The AFM is an imaging tool or a profiler with unprecedented 3-D resolution for various surface types. The AFM technology, however, leaves a lot of room for improvement due to its delicate and fragile probing mechanism. One of the room for improvements is gap control between probe tip and sample surface. Distance between probe tip and sample surface must be kept in below one Angtrom in order to measure the sample surface in Angstrom resolution. In this paper, AFM system modeling, experimental system identification and control scheme based on system identification are performed and finally sample surface is measured by home-built AFM with such a control scheme.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.538-545
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• 2009

The principle and application of a scanning probe microscopy(SPM) are reviewed briefly, and a low-invasive single cell manipulation and a gene delivery technique using an etched atomic force microscopy(AFM) probe tip, which we call a nanoneedle, are explained in detail. The nanoneedle insertion into a cell can be judged by a sudden drop of force in a force-distance curve. The probabilities of nanoneedle insertion into cells were 80~90%, which were higher than those of typical microinjection capillaries. When the diameter of the nanoneedle was smaller than 400 nm, the nanoneedle insertion into a cell over 1 hour had almost no influence on the cell viability. A highly efficient gene delivery and a high ratio of expressed gene per delivered DNA compared the conventional major nonviral gene delivery methods could be achieved using the gene modified nanoneedle.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2013

Quantifying the nanoscale force between the atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe of a force-sensing cantilever and the sample is one of the challenges faced by AFM researchers. The normal force calibration is straightforward; however, the lateral force is complicated due to the twisting motion of the cantilever. Force measurement in a liquid environment is often needed for biological applications; however, calibrating the force of the AFM probes for those applications is more difficult owing to the limitations of conventional calibration methods. In this work, an accurate nondestructive lateral force calibration method using multiple pivot loading was proposed for liquid environment. The torque sensitivity at the location of the integrated probe was extrapolated based on accurately measured torque sensitivities across the cantilever width along a few cantilever lengths. The uncertainty of the torque sensitivity at the location of the integrated tip was about 13%, which is significantly smaller than those for other calibration methods in a liquid environment.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.440-443
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• 2010

We report a top-down approach based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) local anodic oxidation for the fabrication of the nano-pattern field effect transistors (FETs). AFM anodic oxidation is relatively a simple process in atmosphere at room temperature but it still can result in patterns with a high spatial resolution, and compatibility with conventional silicon CMOS process. In this work, we study nano-pattern FETs for various cross-bar distance value D, from ${\sim}0.5\;{\mu}m$ to $1\;{\mu}m$. We compare the optical characteristics of the patterned FETs and of the reference FETs based on both 2-dimensional simulation and experimental results for the wavelength from 100 nm to 900 nm. The simulated the drain current of the nano-patterned FETs shows significantly higher value incident the reference FETs from ${\sim}1.7\;{\times}\;10^{-6}A$ to ${\sim}2.3\;{\times}\;10^{-6}A$ in the infrared range. The fabricated surface texturing of photo-transistors may be applied for high-efficiency photovoltaic devices.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.119-125
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to compare micro-scale friction coefficients with and without synovial fluid, and micro-scale measurements were performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) with a $5{\mu}m$ spherical probe. Four cylindrical cartilage specimens were harvested from two fresh bovine humeral heads (4-6 months old). $Average{\pm}standard$ deviation values of the micro-scale AFM frictional coefficients calculated from the liner fit of friction versus normal force was $0.177{\pm}0.012$ and $0.130{\pm}0.010$ with and without synovial fluid coating on AFM probe respectively, showing its reduction by ${\sim}27%$ with synovial fluid. To the best of our knowledge, this experimental study investigates the first such comparisons of frictional response of articular cartilage with and without synovial fluid coating on AFM probe, and provides significant insights into the role of synovial fluid in the articular cartilage friction and lubrication independently of the confounding effect of fluid pressurization in the articular cartilage.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.6
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• pp.747-756
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• 2022

This study presents the nonlinear free and forced vibrations of a cracked atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever by using the modified couple stress. The cracked section of the AFM cantilever is considered and modeled as rotational spring. In the frame work of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, Von-Karman type of geometric nonlinear equation and the modified couple stress theory, the nonlinear equation of motion for the cracked AFM is derived by Hamilton's principle and then discretized by using the Galerkin's method. The semi-inverse method is utilized for analysis nonlinear free oscillation of the system. Then the method of multiple scale is employed to investigate primary resonance of the system. Some numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effects of some parameters such as depth of the crack, length scale parameter, Tip-Mass, the magnitude and the location of the external excitation force on the nonlinear free and forced vibration behavior of the system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.98.2-98.2
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• 2013

Electrochemical phenomena underpin a broad spectrum of energy, chemical, and information technologies such as resistive memories and secondary batteries. The optimization of functionalities in these devices requires understanding electrochemical mechanisms on the nanoscale. Even though the nanoscale electrochemical phenomena have been studied by electron microscopies, these methods are limited for analyzing dynamic electrochemical behavior and there is still lack of information on the nanoscale electrochemical mechanisms. The alternative way can be an atomic force microscopy (AFM) because AFM allows nanoscale measurements and, furthermore, electrochemical reaction can be controlled by an application of electric field through AFM tip. Here, I will summarize recent studies to probe nanoscale electrochemical reaction in battery applications by AFM. In particular, we have recently developed electromechanical based AFM techniques for exploring reversible and irreversible electrochemical phenomena on the nanoscale. The present work suggests new strategies to explore fundamental electrochemical mechanisms using the AFM approach and eventually will provide a powerful paradigm for probing spatially resolved electrochemical information for energy applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.04b
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• pp.79-80
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• 2009

The local oxidation using an atomic force microscopy (AFM) is useful for Si-base fabrication of nanoscale structures and devices. SiC is a wide band-gap material that has advantages such as high-power, high-temperature and high-frequency in applications, and among several SiC poly types, 4H-SiC is the most attractive poly type due to the high electron mobility. However, the AFM local oxidation of 4H-SiC for fabrication is still difficult, mainly due to the physical hardness and chemical inactivity of SiC. In this paper, we investigated the local oxidation of 4H-SiC surface using an AFM. We fabricated oxide patterns using a contact mode AFM with a Pt/Ir-coated Si tip (N-type, $0.01{\sim}0.025\;{\Omega}cm$) at room temperature, and the relative humidity ranged from 40 to 50%. The height of the fabricated oxide pattern ($1{\sim}3\;nm$) on SiC is similar to that of typically obtained on Si ($10^{15}{\sim}10^{17}\;cm^{-3}$). We perform the 2-D simulation to further analyze the electric field between the tip and the surface. Whereas the simulated electric field on Si surface is constant ($5\;{\times}\;10^7\;V/m$), the electric field on SiC surface increases with increasing the doping concentration from ${\sim}10^{15}$ to ${\sim}10^{17}\;cm^{-3}$. We demonstrated that a specific electric field ($4\;{\times}\;10^7\;V/m$) and a doping concentration (${\sim}10^{17}\;cm^{-3}$) is sufficient to switch on/off the growth of the local oxide on SiC.