Enabling Probe Based Nanointerrogation: A systems and controls approach

Objective: The goal of this proposal is to establish a paradigm for real-time determination of material properties for soft-matter using micro-cantilever probes with sharp tips using atomic force microscopes. The successful completion of the project will result in plug and play modules compatible with existing atomic force microscopes which will provide material science researchers with a new real-time tool to image material properties and will enable access to new temporal regimes of investigation.

Intellectual Merit: The main thrust of the enabling concept proposed is to utilize an existing and prevalent mode of imaging topography of soft-matter, and modifying this method to yield information on stiffness and dissipation at the nano-scale. Tools from controls and systems area based on averaging theory and real-time adaptive estimation methods provide a means to realize proposed objectives. The same tools will be employed to discern and utilize higher modes of the cantilever flexure and for novel means of exciting the probing mechanism.

Broader Impacts: The methods proposed are enabling technologies and will open doors for investigating basic science issues by providing high bandwidth determination of material properties. Under proposal goals a prototype of the plug and play module will be made available to the CharFac facility at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, which is used by diverse set of industry as well as academic researchers. Integration of the nano-interrogation material into the undergraduate control course will aid in incorporation of exciting novel applications of control methods into the curriculum. Instructional modules to be made available to the CharFac user base will enable dissemination of the new systems perspectives to the physics community. The polymer systems to be studied will have direct impact on biological applications.