Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 18, 2026

Characterizing Multiscale Mechanical Properties of Brain Tissue Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Impact Indentation, and Rheometry
Published on: September 6, 2016
Inhomogeneous relaxation of a molecular layer on an insulator due to compressive stress
F Bocquet1, L Nony, S C B Mannsfeld
1Aix-Marseille Université, IM2NP, Avenue Normandie-Niemen Case 151, F-13397 Marseille Cedex 20, France.
Abstract:
We discuss the inhomogeneous stress relaxation of a monolayer of hexahydroxytriphenylene (HHTP) which adopts the rare line-on-line (LOL) coincidence on KCl(001) and forms moiré patterns. The fact that the hexagonal HHTP layer is uniaxially compressed along the LOL makes this system an ideal candidate to discuss the influence of inhomogeneous stress relaxation. Our work is a combination of noncontact atomic force microscopy experiments, density functional theory and potential energy calculations, and a thorough interpretation by means of the Frenkel-Kontorova model. We show that the assumption of a homogeneous molecular layer is not valid for this organic-inorganic heteroepitaxial system since the best calculated energy configuration correlates with the experimental data only if inhomogeneous relaxations of the layer are taken into account.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Nuclei: Types of Nuclear Relaxation
In spin–lattice or longitudinal relaxation, the excited spins exchange energy with the surrounding lattice as they return to the lower energy level. Among several mechanisms that contribute to spin–lattice relaxation, magnetic dipolar interactions are significant. Here, the excited nucleus transfers energy to a nearby...
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes
Residual Stresses in Bending
Generalized Hooke's Law
Residual Stresses
Elastic Strain Energy for Shearing Stresses

