Fabrication of a VO-Based Tunable Metasurface by Electric-Field Scanning Probe Lithography with Precise Depth Control.

Vanadium dioxide (VO) is widely employed in developing tunable optoelectronic devices due to its significant changes in optical and electric properties upon phase transition. To fabricate the VO-based functional devices down to the micro/nanoscale, a high-resolution processing technique is in demand. Scanning probe lithography (SPL) on the basis of a tip-induced electric field provides a promising approach for prototyping.

Accurate determination of MFM tip's magnetic parameters on nanoparticles by decoupling the influence of electrostatic force.

Magnetic force microscopy (MFM) has become one of the most important instruments for characterizing magnetic materials with nanoscale spatial resolution. When analyzing magnetic particles by MFM, calibration of the magnetic tips using reference magnetic nanoparticles is a prerequisite due to similar orientation and dimension of the yielded magnetic fields. However, in such a calibration process, errors caused by extra electrostatic interactions will significantly affect the output results.

Measurement of Film-Elastomer Interface Adhesion by Continuous Buckling.

Measurement of interfacial properties between thin films and elastomers is investigated. As a prototype, the interface adhesion between a graphite nanoflake and an elastic polymer is determined by topography imaging of the induced graphite buckles using atomic force microscopy. A theoretical analysis is carried out to establish the relationship among interface adhesion, elastic strain energy, and buckle surface area.