Linear ripples and traveling circular ripples produced on polymers by thermal AFM probes

Enrico Gnecco, Elisa Riedo, William P. King, Seth R. Marder, and Robert Szoszkiewicz
Phys. Rev. B 79, 235421 – Published 18 June 2009

Abstract

We discuss the time and temperature evolution of the nanometer-scale surface undulations (ripples) produced by a heated atomic force microscope (AFM) tip scanning across surfaces of several amorphous polymers. During linear zigzag scanning we obtain pseudolinear ripples approximately perpendicular to the fast scan direction in a range of scan rates and probe temperatures. As expected, the size of the ripples increases massively in the vicinity of the glass temperature for each polymer. We also examine a different case in which the AFM tip follows a circular path. Contrary to the “steady” linear ripples we obtain circular ripples which rotate along the scanning path during consecutive scans. The group velocity of the circular ripples is 2 orders of magnitude lower than the scan speed. We interpret the experimental data using a phenomenological model accounting for erosion and smoothing effects caused by the probing tip.

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  • Received 19 February 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.79.235421

©2009 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Enrico Gnecco1,*,†, Elisa Riedo2, William P. King3, Seth R. Marder4, and Robert Szoszkiewicz5,*,‡

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
  • 2School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
  • 3Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
  • 4School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
  • 5Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA

  • *Corresponding author.
  • enrico.gnecco@unibas.ch
  • rs@phys.ksu.edu

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Issue

Vol. 79, Iss. 23 — 15 June 2009

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