MRI/RUI: Acquisition of a Nanoindenter for Molecular-Level Studies of Friction at Grinnell College

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This Major Research Instrumentation RUI grant supports state-of-the-art nanoindentation equipment for Grinnell College to conduct research on the fundamental mechanisms of friction at the molecular level. The specific equipment, a Hysitron TriboScope nanoindenter, is a probe device that simultaneously measures normal and lateral forces, probe displacements, and contact area. It can be interfaced with the Digital Instruments control base already existing at Grinnell College. Student researchers will make use of the equipment. Grinnell College's Physics Department graduates 10 to 20 physics majors per year and has attained unique success in bringing women and minority students into physics. Half of Grinnell's physics graduates pursue graduate study in the sciences. The department views student-faculty research as an extremely valuable part of an undergraduate physics education, benefiting both students and faculty alike. The self-assembled monolayer systems to be studied using this nanoindenter show promise as lubricants for a new generation of microdynamic devices. They are also well-controlled experimental and theoretical model systems for investigating the energy dissipation mechanisms underlying friction.