Atomistic mechanical processing and visualization

在空间分辨率为0.1 nm，时间分辨率为1/60的时间分辨高分辨电子显微镜上，直接观察到了机械加工的原子过程。纳米尺寸的金和硅尖端接近，并在200KV电子显微镜内利用压电式驱动进行接触、结合、变形和断裂。在金、硅/硅-氧化物/硅隧道结和硅/金团簇/硅量子点中形成了几个原子列宽的接触边界。靠近表面和接触边界的几层负责粘合和分离过程。用同样的方法进行原子级接触或非接触式表面扫描，类似于扫描探针显微镜中的扫描探针显微镜。还演示了一个原子层的机械去除。提出了新的原子尺度力学试验，如摩擦试验、压缩试验、拉伸和剪切变形试验。

Atomic processes of mechanical processing were performed and directly observed in situ by time-resolved high-resolution transmission electron microscopy at spatial resolution of 0.1nm and time resolution of 1/60 s.Nanometer-sized tips of gold and silicon approached, and were contacted, bonded, deformed and fractured inside a 200 kV electron microscope using a piezo-driving. Contact boundaries of a few atomic columns width in gold, silicon/silicon-oxide/silicon tunnel junctions, and quantum dots of silicon/gold-cluster/silicon were produced. A few layers near the surfaces and contact-boundaries were responsible for the bonding and separation processes. Atomic scale contact or non-contact type surface-scanning similar to that in scanning probe microscopy was performed by the same method. The mechanical removal of one atomic layer was also demonstrated. New kinds of atomic scale mechanical tests, such as friction test, compressing, tensile and shear deformation tests were proposed.