Acquisition of an Atomic Force Microscope for Mechanical and Magnetic Property Measurements in Small Dimensions and Student Training

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9975924BakerThis grant will provide partial support for the acquisition of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) which will be modified to be used to make measurements of mechanical and magnetic properties in the submicrometer regime. The standard AFM displacement sensor will be replaced with load-displacement transducers which can be used both for scanning force topography imaging and for instrumented identation ("nanoindentation") and scratch (nanoscratch") testing. The AFM's scanner will be modified to incorporate a sample stage that contains an electromagnet. This stage will be used to apply fields perpendicular and parallel to thin film samples during magnetic force microscopy measurements in novel magnetoresistive and magnetostrictive materials. This is to be a shared instrument. It will be set up to conduct either mechanical property or magnetic property measurements and will remain in this configuration for some time. The addition of this equipment machine will enable the investigators to obtain valuable information rapidly in a number of ongoing projects and will facilitate new efforts to investigate the properties of materials in small dimensions. In addition, both investigators are very active sponsors of undergraduate research and outreach programs. Their undergraduate and graduate students will have ready access to this machine with attendant educational benefits. Approximately 20% of the machine time will be made available to other researchers and to new projects in the hope of stimulating new results in the area of materials properties in small dimensions.%%%This equipment will significantly enhance the research and educational training of students, and enable mechanical and magnetic properties as well as new phenomena, in thin film materials.