SBIR Phase II: Nanoscale Ultrafast Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (nu-DMA)

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将开发技术，使纳米级动态力学分析（DMA）商业化。传统的DMA工作原理是对样品施加振荡应力并测量随时间变化的应变。例如，对DMA数据的分析可以提供有关材料刚度、粘度、热转变和活化能的信息。DMA是测量大块材料粘弹性特性的一种重要且广泛使用的工具，但它有三个关键的局限性：速度慢、频率范围有限以及缺乏空间分辨信息。越来越多的材料类别采用纳米级复合结构来实现所需的材料性能。目前还没有一种工具可以快速检测这些材料在其设计尺度上的温度相关粘弹性响应。为了解决这一未满足的需求，我们将扩展成功的第一阶段研究，开发基于原子力显微镜（AFM）的仪器，使用可快速加热的AFM悬臂探针。具体而言，纳米级DMA平台将提供：(1)秒可变温度DMA；(2)测量频率比传统DMA高3个数量级；(3)空间分辨率可达100 nm；(4)敏感的和空间分辨的玻璃跃迁测量范围广泛的商业上重要的聚合物以前不能测量。该项目的广泛影响/商业潜力将延伸到多个行业和学术研究领域。计量和表征是成功的材料科学和材料制造的基础。纳米尺度材料表征工具的缺乏已被化学工业确定为新材料快速发展的关键瓶颈。该提案旨在填补所需仪器的主要空白。由于能够在纳米尺度上测量与温度相关的粘弹性特性，材料科学家和工程师将首次能够在广泛的工作温度和频率范围内直接研究非均质材料的局部材料刚度、能量吸收和阻尼。除了空间分辨率测量外，显著的测量速度改进（比传统DMA提高了一千倍）将实现更高的测量吞吐量，更低的每次测量成本，更频繁的采样和更好的测量统计。基于与不同行业客户的互动，我们已经在包括环氧树脂、聚合物混合物、多层薄膜、医疗设备、半导体封装和航空航天市场等领域发现了强大的市场吸引力。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop technologies to enable commercialization of nanoscale Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA). Conventional DMA works by applying an oscillating stress to a sample and measuring the time-dependent strain. Analysis of DMA data gives information about material stiffness, viscosity, thermal transitions and activation energies, for example. DMA is a critical and widely used tool to measure the viscoelastic properties of bulk materials, but it suffers from three key limitations: slow speed, limited frequency range, and the lack of spatially-resolved information. Large and growing material classes employ nanoscale composite structures to achieve desired material properties. No current tool can rapidly examine the temperature-dependent viscoelastic response of these materials on the scales they are being engineered. To address this unmet need, we will extend successful Phase I research to develop instrumentation based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) using rapidly heatable AFM cantilever probes. Specifically, the nanoscale DMA platform will provide: (1) variable temperature DMA in seconds; (2) measurement frequencies three orders of magnitude higher than conventional DMA; (3) spatial resolution down to 100 nm; and (4) sensitive and spatially-resolved measurements of glass transitions on wide range of commercially important polymers not previously measurable.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will stretch across multiple industries and academic research areas. Metrology and characterization are foundations of successful materials science and materials manufacturing. The lack of materials characterization tools at the nanoscale has been identified by the chemical industry as a key bottleneck for the rapid development of new materials. This proposal aims to fill a major gap in required instrumentation. With the ability to measure temperature-dependent viscoelastic properties at the nanoscale, materials scientists and engineers will be able for the first time to directly investigate local material stiffness, energy absorption, and damping in heterogeneous materials over a wide range of operating temperatures and frequencies. In addition to spatially resolved measurements, the dramatic measurement speed improvements (a thousand-fold improvement over conventional DMA) will enable higher measurement throughput, lower cost per measurement, more frequent sampling and better measurement statistics. Based on interactions with customers in diverse industries, we have already has already identified strong market pull in areas including epoxies, polymer blends, multilayer films, medical devices, semiconductor packaging, and aerospace markets.