CAREER: Nanoscale Thermal Processing with a Heated Atomic Force Microscope Cantilever Tip

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Proposal Number: CTS-0238888 Principal Investigator: William P. King Affiliation: Georgia Institute of Technology Proposal Title: CAREER: Nanoscale thermal processing with a heated atomic force microscope cantilever tip Since its invention in 1986, the atomic force microscope (AFM) has become the most widely used instrument for nanoscience and nanotechnology. AFM cantilevers used in thermomechanical data storage are fabricated with a tip having a radius of curvature near 20 nm and integrated heating. As the heated cantilever tip is brought into contact with a substrate, only the area of contact between the tip and the substrate is heated. With a diameter of contact as small as 1 nm, the contact area between a heated AFM cantilever tip and a substrate is the smallest controlled heating source ever produced. Thus, the heated AFM cantilever tip is an excellent tool for studying the fundamentals of heat transport and phase change at the nanometer scale, which can be substantially different compared to macroscopic scales. This research plan develops the heated AFM cantilever tip as a scientific instrument for nanometer-scale characterization of temperature-dependant physical and chemical transitions. The educational plan includes the development of a new graduate course in the design of thermal and fluid micro and nano devices. Graduate students involved in this research will also be exposed to a broad set of technical and cultural experiences, including collaborations with national laboratories and industry and with international collaborators. The award is supported by the Thermal Transport and Thermal Processing Program of the Chemical and Transport Systems Division.