Picosecond time scale imaging of mechanical contacts
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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
Measurement of Tension Release During Laser Induced Axon Lesion to Evaluate Axonal Adhesion to the Substrate at Piconewton and Millisecond Resolution
Published on: May 27, 2013
Thomas Dehoux1, Oliver B Wright, Roberto Li Voti
1Division of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan. dehouxthomas@yahoo.fr
Abstract:
By means of an ultrafast opto-acoustic technique we study the nanoindentation of thin chromium films on sapphire substrates using a ceramic ball bearing. Acoustic pulses at approximately 40 GHz returning from the film-indenter interface allow the film indentation profiles to be probed to sub-nanometer resolution over contact areas approximately 25 microm in radius. The deformation of the films during loading is thereby revealed. Furthermore, thermal wave imaging of the contact at megahertz frequencies is simultaneously achieved.
