Manipulation of gold colloidal nanoparticles with atomic force microscopy in dynamic mode: influence of particle–substrate chemistry and morphology, and of operating conditions

• Samer Darwich,
• Karine Mougin,
• Akshata Rao,
• Enrico Gnecco,
• Shrisudersan Jayaraman and
• Hamidou Haidara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 85–98, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.10

• important physical parameters. Indeed small and large particles do not undergo the same trajectory during manipulation. This size-dependence of the particle trajectory under manipulation can thus provide a way to fractionate or to separate a mixture of nano-objects. In Figure 2a and Figure 2b, we can

• fractionate and separate small from big particles adsorbed on a substrate. This size-dependence of the particle trajectory was explained by a simulation which shows that the trajectory of the particle at the same time depends on i) the operating parameter which is the scanning path used by AFM (zigzag or

• compare two consecutive trajectories of the particle before and after collision, the single Au particle (thinner line) moves at a smaller angle, as compared to the case where it meets another particle (thicker line). In this case, the variation of the trajectory can be explained by the variation of the

The description of friction of silicon MEMS with surface roughness: virtues and limitations of a stochastic Prandtl–Tomlinson model and the simulation of vibration-induced friction reduction

• W. Merlijn van Spengen,
• Viviane Turq and
• Joost W. M. Frenken

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 163–171, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.20

• loop is completed. As a last step the trajectory of the contact point is evaluated for the first part of a second loop: from the last point in the cycle to the first time it encounters the original curve again. Indeed, the starting point of the second loop is not the same as that of the first, when the