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I. Gebeshuber:
"Nanoscience on Surfaces";
Technische Universität Wien, Fakultät für Physik, 2008.

Ille C. Gebeshuber

Institut fuer Allgemeine Physik, Technische Universität Wien

email gebeshuber@iap.tuwien.ac.at, Internet http://www.ille.com/

Scanning Probe Microscopy is a high-resolution type of microscopy that allows for investigation
of sample surfaces varying more than seven orders of magnitude in size, in measuring
conditions as versatile as ultra-high vacuum, air or aggressive gases, as well as fluids such as
water or oil. Furthermore, certain types of Scanning Probe Spectroscopy allow for acquisition
of mechanical properties on the nanoscale and their spacial correlation to topographical as well
as chemical information.

Major results of investigations of three different model systems are presented:

. The formation of nanohillocks on atomically flat insulating CaF2(111) surfaces can be
exclusively induced by the potential energy of highly charged ions and shows a potential
energy threshold. For projectiles with different kinetic energies, a shift in the threshold
charge state for hillock formation is measured. The surprisingly sharp and well-defined
threshold can be linked to a solid-liquid phase transition. [e.g. PRL 100 (2008) 237601,
NIM B 258 (2007) 167, Rad. Eff. Def. Solids 162 (2007) 467]

. Interactions between individual protein molecules are observed with a Prototype Small
Cantilever Atomic Force Microscopy in real time on the single molecule level. In particular,
the distribution of the lifetimes of complexes formed by individual molecules of the
chaperonin protein GroES binding to and then dissociating from individual GroEL proteins,
which were immobilized on a mica support, peaks near five seconds. [Nature Struct. Biol.
7 (2000) 644]

. Live diatoms are imaged in ambient conditions, providing novel structural details of their
surface. The thickness of the organic layer covering the siliceous skeleton was determined
to be 10 nanometers and the diatom adhesion molecules were characterised, inspiring
man-made adhesives that are tailored to tough and strong high performance applications
in textiles, ropes, construction materials, aeronautics, and biomedical applications such as
implant materials and prosthetics. [e.g. J. Eng. Tribol. 220(J8) (2006) 787, J. Microsc.
212 (2003) 292, Mat. Sci. Technol. 18 (2002) 763]

These results illustrate the high potential of Scanning Probe Instrumentation and Methods in
Experimental Physics.










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