Mapping mechanical properties of organic thin films by force-modulation microscopy in aqueous media

• Jianming Zhang,
• Zehra Parlak,
• Carleen M. Bowers,
• Terrence Oas and
• Stefan Zauscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 464–474, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.53

• atomic force microscopy; biomolecules; elastic modulus mapping; nanomechanical characterization; self-assembled monolayers; Introduction Mapping the mechanical properties, such as elastic modulus, friction, and adhesion of surfaces and thin films in aqueous (or liquid) environments with nanoscale

• properties of self-assembled monolayers and end-tethered protein thin films in aqueous media. Furthermore, we describe a simple analysis of the contact mechanics that enables the selection of FMM imaging parameters and thus yields a reliable interpretation of the FMM image contrast. Keywords: acoustic