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

这项主要研究仪器RUI资助为格林内尔学院提供最先进的纳米压痕设备，用于在分子水平上进行摩擦基本机制的研究。具体的设备是hyysitron TriboScope纳米压头，它是一种探测装置，可以同时测量法向力和侧向力、探针位移和接触面积。它可以与格林内尔学院现有的数字仪器控制基地接口。学生研究人员将利用这些设备。格林内尔学院物理系每年有10到20名物理学专业的毕业生，在将女性和少数族裔学生引入物理学方面取得了独特的成功。格林奈尔学院一半的物理学毕业生继续攻读理科研究生课程。该系认为学生和教师的研究是本科物理教育中极有价值的一部分，对学生和教师都有好处。使用这种纳米压头研究的自组装单层系统有望成为新一代微动力装置的润滑剂。它们也是研究摩擦能量耗散机制的良好控制的实验和理论模型系统。

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.