Nanophotonic atomic force microscope transducers enable chemical composition and thermal conductivity measurements at the nanoscale

Published

September 13, 2017

Author(s)

Jungseok Chae, Sangmin An, Georg Ramer, Vitalie Stavila, Glenn Holland, Yohan Yoon, Alec Talin, Mark Allendorf, Vladimir Aksyuk, Andrea Centrone

Abstract

The atomic force microscope (AFM) offers a rich observation window on the nanoscale, yet many dynamic phenomena are too fast and too weak for direct detection, urging measurement innovation. Integrated cavity-optomechanics is revolutionizing micromechanical sensing, but its implementation in AFM remains challenging. Here, picogram-scale probes are integrated with photonic resonators, to enable < 10 ns temporal resolution and picometer-uncertainty AFM measurement of the local thermal expansion dynamics induced by fast laser pulses. The high temporal resolution enables photothermal induced resonance(PTIR) experiments to measure the sample thermal conductivity (η), concurrently with nanoscale chemical composition. η = 0.26 W·m-1·K-1 ± 0.03 W·m-1·K-1 was obtained for HKUST-1 metal-organic-framework individual microcrystals, which exhibited, unexpectedly, a positive thermal expansion on a microsecond-timescale. The improved sensitivity also enabled nanoscale chemical composition measurement of molecular-monolayer-thin samples. The paradigm-shifting photonic readout of small probes breaks the common tradeoff between AFM measurement precision and ability to capture transient events, benefitting dynamic nanoscale observation in materials and biological specimens.

Citation

Nano Letters

Volume

17

Issue

9

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b02404

Local Download

Keywords

AFM, MEMS, PTIT, Chemical Composition, Thermal Conductivity

Citation

Chae, J. , An, S. , Ramer, G. , Stavila, V. , Holland, G. , Yoon, Y. , Talin, A. , Allendorf, M. , Aksyuk, V. and Centrone, A. (2017), Nanophotonic atomic force microscope transducers enable chemical composition and thermal conductivity measurements at the nanoscale, Nano Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b02404, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=923199 (Accessed October 20, 2025)