Energy dissipation distributions and dissipative atomic processes in amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy

Area of Science:

• Nanoscale physics
• Materials science
• Tribology

Background:

• Understanding energy dissipation at the nanoscale is crucial for predicting material behavior.
• Existing models often simplify complex interactions, limiting accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe instantaneous and average energy dissipation distributions at the nanoscale.
• To analyze the consequences of these distributions on various physical phenomena.
• To propose a novel semi-discrete approach for atomic dissipative processes.

Main Methods:

• Employed purely continuous and semi-discrete approaches.
• Analyzed effects of short and long-range interactions.
• Derived analytic expressions for instantaneous power.
• Developed a general expression for effective interaction area.

Main Results:

• Quantified heat generation, thermal flux, adhesion hysteresis, and viscoelasticity.
• Evaluated the impact of peak values versus average values in energy dissipation.
• Proposed a semi-discrete model yielding realistic atomic bond dissipation and viscoelastic values.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a comprehensive framework for understanding nanoscale energy dissipation.
• The proposed semi-discrete approach accurately models atomic-level dissipative processes.
• Results have implications for designing materials and devices at the nanoscale.