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Updated: May 31, 2026
Atomic Force Microscopy Cantilever-Based Nanoindentation: Mechanical Property Measurements at the Nanoscale in Air and Fluid
Published on: December 2, 2022
Non-contact atomic force microscopy study of atomic manipulation on an insulator surface by nanoindentation
Ryuji Nishi1, Daisuke Miyagawa, Yoshihide Seino
1Division of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
Abstract:
Experimental results on vertical manipulation on an insulator surface using non-contact atomic force microscopy are presented. Cleaved ionic KCl(100) single crystal is used as an insulator surface. With the nanoindentation method used, the vertical manipulation of a single atom in an ionic crystal surface is more difficult than in a semiconductor surface. Therefore, in many cases, more than one surface atom is manipulated while, in rare cases, single-atom manipulation is successfully performed. Lateral manipulation of a vacancy has occasionally succeeded on the KCl(100) surface. We have presumed that the lateral manipulation was induced by pulling.
