Extracting viscoelastic material parameters using an atomic force microscope and static force spectroscopy.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Physical Chemistry

Background:

• Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is crucial for nanoscale surface characterization.
• Extracting material properties requires physically accurate models for AFM experiments.
• Quantifying rate-dependent material properties, particularly viscoelastic response, is a long-standing goal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an approach for extracting linear viscoelastic information from AFM Static Force Spectroscopy (AFM-SFS) experiments.
• To provide a practical guide for selecting and restricting model parameters for fitting.
• To build upon previous work in AFM-based material property analysis.

Main Methods:

• Developing a fit function from fundamental physical laws.
• Conditioning raw AFM-SFS experimental datasets.
• Fitting and predicting viscoelastic response parameters using the developed model.

Main Results:

• Successfully extracted linear viscoelastic information from AFM-SFS data.
• Demonstrated a practical methodology for parameter selection and fitting.
• Provided a complete guide for estimating storage modulus, loss modulus, loss angle, and compliance.

Conclusions:

• The presented approach offers a comprehensive method for leveraging AFM-SFS data to estimate key material viscoelastic parameters.
• This work enhances the practical application of AFM for quantitative material characterization at the nanoscale.
• Detailed insights into methodology and analytical choices support the reliable estimation of material properties.