Acquisition of a Nano-Tribometer and Imaging Tool for Research and Education in Nanostructured Thin Films and Devices

这笔拨款用于支持阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校（UAB）目前和未来纳米结构材料物理学的研究和教育活动所需的纳米摩擦计和成像工具（NTI-Tool）的购置。该工具包括两个主要部分，一个是针盘式和线性往复CSM纳米摩擦计，用于研究各种负载和环境（包括液体）下材料的摩擦和磨损，另一个是Fogale干涉显微镜Microsurf- 3D，用于测试前后具有复杂形貌的表面的高分辨率三维图像。纳米摩擦计和成像工具将在UAB物理系建立新的研究能力，并将补充该系的材料制造（CVD， PLD，溅射和溶胶-凝胶）和机械性能表征（纳米压痕/ AFM设备）基础设施。UAB有四个研究小组（物理系、生物医学工程系和材料科学与工程系）将受益于在研究项目中使用拟议的工具，这些项目专注于生物医学和微机械（MEMS）应用的纳米结构金属氧化物、纳米晶金刚石和氮化陶瓷涂层。以及用于生物医学髋关节植入物和机械摩擦副部件的金属复合材料表面摩擦和微磨损的表征。该仪器将应用于UAB的三个教育项目：材料科学跨学科研究生项目，UAB NSF/ dmr支持的REU-Site（促进本科生参与实验和计算材料研究的区域倡议，涉及UAB，伯明翰南方学院和桑福德大学，重点关注妇女和少数民族），以及正在等待的NSF IGERT关于材料和生物技术多学科合作的完整提案。这些项目的本科生和研究生将受益于使用这些最先进的仪器来熟悉材料表征的方法，并获得动手实验室经验。预计该设备将对生物医学植入物和MEMS组件的纳米结构和复合材料的物理和技术产生重大影响。通过涉及仪器的研究，增强了对这些材料的摩擦和磨损的理解，将有助于生产新的、有用的功能性薄膜和复合材料系统组件以及新的承重部件。

This grant supports the acquisition of a Nano-Tribometer and Imaging Tool (NTI-Tool) needed for current and future research and education activities in the physics of nanostructured materials at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). This tool comprises two major parts, a combination of a pin-on-disk and linear reciprocating CSM Nano-Tribometer to study friction and wear of materials in a wide range of loads and environments including liquids, and a Fogale interferometric microscope Microsurf- 3D for high resolution three-dimensional images of surfaces with a complex morphology before and after tests. The Nano-Tribometer and Imaging Tool will establish a new research capability at UAB Department of Physics and will complement the Department's materials fabrication (CVD, PLD, sputtering, and sol-gel) and mechanical properties characterization (Nano-Indentor / AFM facility) infrastructure. There are four research groups in UAB (Physics, Biomedical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering Departments) that will benefit from using the proposed tool in research projects focused on nanostructured metal oxides, nanocrystalline diamond and nitride ceramic coatings for biomedical and micro-mechanical (MEMS) applications, and on characterization of surface friction and micro-wear in metallic composite materials for load-bearing biomedical hip implants and friction pair components of machines. The instrumentation will have application in three UAB educational programs: the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Materials Science, the UAB NSF/DMR-supported REU-Site (Regional Initiative to Promote Undergraduate Participation in Experimental and Computational Materials Research involving UAB, Birmingham Southern College, and Samford University with the focus groups of women and minorities), and pending NSF IGERT full proposal on Multidisciplinary collaboration in materials and biotechnology.. Undergraduate and graduate students in these programs will benefit from using this state-of-art instrumentation to become acquainted with the methods of materials characterization, and to obtain hands-on laboratory experience. It is expected that this equipment will have a significant impact on physics and technology of nanostructured and composite materials for biomedical implants and components of MEMS. The enhanced understanding of friction and wear of these materials generated by research involving the instrumentation will aid in the production of new, useful assemblies of functional thin film and composite materials systems and new load-bearing components.