Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / This doctoral dissertation focuses on the application of Van-der-Waals’ forces in micromaterial handling. A micro-material handling system consists of four main elements, which include: the micro-gripper, the micro-workpart, the picking up position and the placement position. The scientific theoretical frameworks of Van-der-Waals’ forces, presented by Van der Waals, Hamaker, London, Lifshitz, Israelachvilli, Parsegian, Rumpf and Rabinovich, are employed in exploring the extent to which these forces could be applied in a micromanufacturing situation. Engineering theoretical frameworks presented by Fearing, Bohringer, Sitti, Feddema, Arai and Fukuda, are employed in order to provide an in-depth synthesis of the application of Van-der-Waals’ forces in micro-material handling. An empirical or pragmatic methodology was adopted in the research. The Electron Beam Evaporation (e-beam) method was used in generating interactive surfaces of uniform surface roughness values. E-beam depositions of copper, aluminum and silver on silicon substrates were developed. The deposition rates were in the range of 0.6 – 1.2 Angstrom/s, at an average vacuum pressure of 2 x 10-6 mbar. The topographies were analysed and characterised using an Atomic Force Microscope and the corresponding rms surface roughness values were obtained. The Rumpf-Rabinovich equation, which gives the relationship of the exerted Van-der-Waals’ forces and the rms surface roughness values, is used to numerically model the results. In the final synthesis it is observed that the e-beam depositions of copper are generally suited for the pick-up position. Aluminum is suited for the micro-gripper and silver is suited for the placement position in an optimised micro-material handling system. Another Atomic Force Microscope was used in order to validate the numerically modelled results of the exerted Van- der-Waals’ forces. The aim was to measure the magnitude of Vander- Waals’ forces exerted by the e-beam depositions and to evaluate their applicability in micro-material handling operations. The measurements proved that Van-der-Waals’ forces exerted by the samples could be used for micro-material handling purposes on condition that they exceeded the weight of the micro-part being handled. Three fundamental parameters, ie: material type, geometrical configuration and surface topography were used to develop strategies of manipulation of micro-materials by Van-der- Waals’ forces. The first strategy was based on the material type variation of the interactive surfaces in a micro-material handling operation. This strategy hinged on the fact that materials have different Hamaker coefficients, which resulted in them experiencing a specific Van-der- Waals’ forces’ intensity during handling. The second strategy utilised variation in the geometrical configuration of the interacting surfaces. The guiding principle in this case was that, the larger the contact area was, the greater the exerted Van-der-Waals’ forces would be In the analytical modelling of Van-der-Waals’ forces with reference to geometrical configuration, a flat surface was found to exert more force than other configurations. The application of the design, for purposes of manufacturing and assembling (DFMA) criteria, also proved that flat interactive surfaces have high design efficiency. The third strategy was based on surface roughness. The rougher the topography of a given surface was, the lesser the Van-der-Waals’ forces exerted were. It was synthesised that in order for a pick-transfer-place cycle to be realised, the root-mean-square (rms) interactive surface roughness values of the micro-part (including the picking position, the micro-gripper, and the placement position) should decrease successively. Hybrid strategies were also identified in this research in order to deal with some complex cases. The hybrids combined at least two of the aforementioned strategies.

The generation of nanostructured microscale assemblies with complex, three-dimensional (3-D) morphologies possessing multicomponent inorganic compositions tailored for adhesion is of considerable scientific and technological interest. This dissertation demonstrates that self-assembled 3-D organic templates of biogenic origin can be converted into replicas comprised of numerous other functional nanocrystalline inorganic materials and, further, how such replicas can tailored for adhesion. Nature provides a spectacular variety of biologically-assembled 3-D organic structures with intricate, hierarchical (macro-to-micro-to-nanoscale) morphologies designed for particle adhesion. The conformal coating of such structurally-complex biotemplates with synthetic materials provides a framework for chemical transformation of other, complex synthetic organic templates and the basis to study imparted adhesion properties. Three specific research thrusts are detailed in this document. First, freestanding magnetite (Fe3O4) replicas of bio-organic templates are synthesized via a layer-by-layer (LbL) wet chemical deposition process and subsequent morphology-preserving thermal treatments to allow for structures with tailorable long-range magnetic adhesion. Second, freestanding spinel ferrite replicas of bio-organic templates are synthesized (via LbL coating and thermal treatment) for grain size controlled long-range magnetic adhesion and short range van der Waals adhesion. The final research thrust focuses on the use of a low temperature (≤ 250°C) wet-chemical based process to convert bioorganic templates into magnetically-coated structures retaining both the size and morphology of the template. The rate-limiting kinetic mechanism(s) of the partial reduction of the inorganic coatings have been examined via quartz crystal microbalance analysis. The effects of the coating micro/nanostructure on magnetic behavior and on surface adhesion, have been investigated.

This dissertation describes new measurements of the van der Waals (vdW) potential energy for atoms near a surface. The measurements presented here were accomplished by studying diffraction a beam of atoms transmitted through a nanograting. I will describe how we improved precision by a factor of 10 over previous diffraction measurements by studying how different types of atoms interact with the same surface. As a result of this new precision, we were able to show for the first time the contribution of atomic core electrons to the atom-surface potential, and experimentally test different atomic structure calculation methods.In addition, this dissertation will describe how changing the width of the grating bars to achieve a particular "magic" grating bar width or rotating a grating to a particular "magic" angle allows us to determine both the atom-surface potential strength and the geometry of the grating. This represents an improvement over several recent studies where uncertainties in the nanograting geometry limited precision in the measurements of the vdW potential.For a complementary measurement, also discussed in this dissertation, we collaborated with the Vigue group in Toulouse, France. In this collaboration we used an atom interferometer to measure the phase shift due to transmission through a nanograting. By combining diffraction data from Tucson with interferometry data from Toulouse we improved the precision of interferometry measurements of the atom-surface potential of a single atomic species by almost a factor of 10 over previous interferometric measurements of the vdW potential. These interferometry measurements also serve to measure the shape of the vdW potential and set a limit on non-Newtonian gravitational interactions at 1-2 nm length scales.Finally, this dissertation will discuss how nanogratings with optimized geometry can improve atom interferometers, for example, with blazed gratings. We discuss next generation atom-surface potential measurements and examine new ways of analyzing diffraction data.

No description available.

No description available.

We present revised measurements of the static electric dipole polarizabilities of K, Rb, and Cs based on atom interferometer experiments presented in [Phys. Rev. A 2015, 92, 052513] but now re-analyzed with new calibrations for the magnitude and geometry of the applied electric field gradient. The resulting polarizability values did not change, but the uncertainties were significantly reduced. Then, we interpret several measurements of alkali metal atomic polarizabilities in terms of atomic oscillator strengths f(ik), Einstein coefficients A(ik), state lifetimes tau(k), transition dipole matrix elements D-ik, line strengths S-ik, and van der Waals C-6 coefficients. Finally, we combine atom interferometer measurements of polarizabilities with independent measurements of lifetimes and C-6 values in order to quantify the residual contribution to polarizability due to all atomic transitions other than the principal ns-np(J) transitions for alkali metal atoms.

In low dimensional systems, electron correlation effects can often be enhanced. This can be vital since these effects not only play an important role in the study of many-electron physics, but are also useful in designing new materials for various applications. Since its isolation from graphite in 2004, graphene, a two dimensional sheet of carbon atoms, has drawn considerable interest due to its remarkable properties. In the past few years, research has moved on from single to bi-, dual- and multi-layer graphene systems, each displaying their own multitudes of intriguing properties. In particular, multi-layer systems that are electronically decoupled, but still coupled via the long-range Coulomb interaction, are very fascinating as they provide an opportunities to study phenomena like excitonic condensates, non-zero band gaps and van der Waals (vdW) interactions. In this thesis, I shall discuss our recent work on two different physical aspects of dual- layer graphene systems under uniaxial strain. Firstly, I shall present results on the vdW correlation energy evaluated, within the Random Phase Approximation, at zero temperature between two undoped graphene layers separated by a finite distance. The correlation energy is obtained for three anisotropic models with variations in the strength of the effective coupling constant. We find that the vdW interaction energy increases with increasing anisotropy and the many-body contributions to the correlation energy are non-negligible. In the second part, I shall talk about the formation of inter-layer electron-hole (excitonic) pairings, caused by the inter-layer Coulomb interaction between two uniaxially strained graphene sheets which are appropriately doped with electrons/holes and our studies of the dependence of strain on the effective interaction. We find that strain, in combination with precise control of the initial momentum can effectively overcome the suppression due to inter-layer screening effects.

In this work, we study the properties and device applications of MoS2, black phosphorus, MoOx, and NbSe2. We first start with the design, fabrication, and characterization of ultra-high responsivity photodetectors based on mesoscopic multilayer MoS2. The device architecture is comprised of a metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector, where Mo was used as the contact metal to suspended MoS2 membranes. The dominant photocurrent mechanism was determined to be the photoconductive effect, while a contribution from the photogating effect was also noted from trap-states that yielded a wide spectral photoresponse from UV-to-IR with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) ~ 104. From time-resolved photocurrent measurements, a fast decay time and response time were obtained with a stream of incoming ON/OFF white light pulses. Another interesting semiconductor 2D material that has attracted special attention due to its small bandgap and ultra-high hole mobility is the black phosphorus. An analysis of the optoelectronic properties and photocurrent generation mechanisms in two-dimensional (2D) multilayer crystallites of black phosphorus (BP) was conducted from 350 K down to cryogenic temperatures using a broad-band white light source. The Mo-BP interface yielded a low Schottky barrier "φ" _"SB" ~ -28.3 meV and a high photoresponsivity R of ~ 2.43 x 105 A/W at a source-drain bias voltage of ~ 0.5 V (300 K, and incident optical power ~ 3.16 μW/cm2). Our report is the first to highlight the empirical use of Mo as a contact metal with BP. From the analysis conducted on the BP devices, the thermally driven photocurrent generation mechanism arising from the photobolometric effect (PBE) dominated the carrier dynamics for T > 181 K since the photocurrent Iph and the bolometric coefficient β undergo a transition in polarity from positive to negative. Our results show the promise of BP to potentially advance thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices stemming from this mono-elemental, direct bandgap 2D van der Waals solid. Another intriguing metallic 2D material is superconducting 2H-NbSe2. Here we present the temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy and electronic transport on bulk NbSe2, carried out to investigate the scattering mechanisms. We report on the photoresponse of direct probed mesoscopic 2H-NbSe2 as a function of laser energy for lasers at 405 nm, 660 nm, and 1060 nm wavelengths used to irradiate the device, where the modulation from the superconducting-to-normal-state is detected through photomodulation. Additionally, the various oxidation levels of molybdenum oxide have interesting optical and electrical properties as a function of the oxygen vacancy and stoichiometry. The substoichiometric MoOx (2 < x < 3) behaves as a high work function conductor due to its metallic defect band. As a result, one of the potential applications of MoOx is for electrical contacts providing high hole injection or extraction. In this work, we have synthesized MoOx nanosheets via chemical vapor deposition and a four-terminal device was fabricated via e-beam lithography and electronic transport was measured as a function of temperature. Outstanding properties were obtained from our MoOx nanosheets, including a high conductivity of ~ 6,680.3 S cm-1, a superior temperature coefficient of resistance ~ -0.10%, and a high sensitivity based on the bolometric coefficient β of ~ 0.152 mS K-1. In summary, this work pushes the state-of-the-art in enabling 2D van der Waals materials for next-generation high-performance detectors.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde der fließregulierende Effekt diverser hochdisperser Fällungskieselsäuren vom Typ SIPERNAT® (Evonik Degussa GmbH) auf die Fließeigenschaften kohäsiver Schüttgüter untersucht. Der Wirkmechanismus dieser nanostrukturierten Fließregulierungsmittel beruht bei trockenen und elektrostatisch nicht aufgeladenen Pulvern vorwiegend auf der Reduktion von van-der-Waals-Kräften durch Adsorption kleinerer Aggregate des Fließregulierungsmittels an die Oberfläche der Schüttgutpartikel und somit Vergrößerung des Abstandes bzw. Verkleinerung der Kontaktflächen zwischen den Trägerpartikeln. Durch unterschiedlich langes Mischen von Fließregulierungsmitteln mit kohäsiven Schüttgütern verändert sich sowohl die Anzahl adsorbierter Nanopartikel als auch die Größe, Größenverteilung und Form der Adsorbate, was in unterschiedlichen Fließeigenschaften der Mischungen resultiert. Zur Untersuchung des Zusammenhanges zwischen Oberflächenbelegung durch Adsorbate und Fließeigenschaften einer Mischung wurde Maisstärke, die als kohäsives Modellschüttgut fungierte, eine konstante Menge Fließregulierungsmittel zugesetzt und die Mischungen unterschiedlich langen Mischzeiten in einem Freifallmischer unterzogen. Die aus dem Mischprozeß resultierende Belegung der Maisstärkeoberfläche durch Adsorbate wurde mittels Rasterelektronenmikroskop mit anschließender bildanalytischer Auswertung (KL 300®, Carl Zeiss) charakterisiert. Die Fließeigenschaften der Mischungen wurden mit einem Zugspannungstester, einem modifizierten Auslauftrichter sowie Hausner-Faktor untersucht. Es konnte gezeigt werden, daß sich die Fließeigenschaften mit steigender Mischzeit kontinuierlich bis zum Erreichen eines Optimums verbessern. Dies wird mit der Abnahme der Adsorbatgrößen und der Zunahme der Adsorbatanzahl auf der Maisstärkeoberfläche erklärt. Bei kurzen Mischzeiten bewirken adsorbierte Fließregulierungsmittelaggregate eine Verbesserung der Fließeigenschaften durch Verhinderung direkter Kontakte zwischen den Schüttgutpartikeln. Bei weiterer Zunahme der Oberflächenbelegung werden die Fließeigenschaften durch einen Übergang von Träger-Adsorbat-Träger-Kontakten zu Träger-Adsorbat-Adsorbat-Träger-Kontakten verbessert. Eine beobachtete Verschlechterung der Fließeigenschaften nach Überschreiten der optimalen Mischzeit beruht wahrscheinlich auf einer Veränderung der dreidimensionalen Form der Adsorbate, die zu einer Vergrößerung der Kontaktflächen führt. Beim Vergleich der unterschiedlichen Messmethoden zur Ermittlung der Fließeigenschaften wurde ersichtlich, dass die Messparameter des modifizierten Auslauftrichters gut mit dem Hausner-Faktor korrelieren, während die Zugspannungsmessungen z.T. abweichende Ergebnisse lieferten. Eine genaue Analyse des Messvorgangs am Zugspannungstester zeigte, dass die Pulverproben bei der verwendeten Messmethode (Messung mit konstanter Vorlast) in Abhängigkeit von ihren Fließeigenschaften unterschiedlich stark durch den Messvorgang verdichtet werden, was Einfluss auf die gemessenen Zugspannungswerte hatte. Aus dieser Erkenntnis konnten Verbesserungsvorschläge für die Zugspannungsmessung an Schüttgütern gemacht werden. / The flow enhancing effect of different high dispersive precipitated silica (SIPERNAT®, Evonik Degussa GmbH) on cohesive bulk powder was investigated. The working mechanism of these flow regulators in dry and not highly electrified powders is based on the reduction of van der Waals forces by adsorption on the surface of the cohesive bulk particles and thus increasing the particle distance and reducing the contact area. Variation of the blending time of the cohesive bulk powder with the flow regulator causes a differing number, size, size distribution and shape of the adsorbates on the surface of the bulk powder which results in different flow properties of the mixtures. To investigate the relationship between surface coverage and flow properties, binary mixtures of corn starch and flow additive were prepared and submitted to different mixing times in a free fall mixer. The resulting surface coverage was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy with employment of an image analyzing program (KS 300®, Carl Zeiss). The flow properties of the mixtures were investigated by a tensile strength tester, a modified outflow funnel and measurement of the Hausner-Ratio. It was demonstrated, that the flow properties are improved steadily with blending time until an optimum is reached. This is explained by the increase of the number of adsorbates on the surface of the bulk particles and the diminution of the adsorbat sizes during the mixing process. At short mixing times the enhancement of flow properties is mainly due to the prevention of direct contacts between the bulk particles by adsorbates of the flow regulator. At higher surface coverage a further improvement of flow properties is caused by transition from particle-adsorbate-particle contacts into particle-adsorbat-adsorbat-particle contacts. The observed worsening of flow properties after exceeding the optimal blending time is probably caused by a flattening of the adsorbates which results in an increase of contact areas. Comparison of the different methods to assign the flow properties revealed, that the measuring parameters of the modified outflow funnel correlate well with the Hausner-Ratio, whereas the tensile strength showed in part deviant results. An analysis of the measuring procedure of the tensile strength tester showed, that the powder samples were differently consolidated by the measuring procedure in dependence on their flow properties, which influenced the tensile strength results. Based on this finding some suggestions for improvement of the measuring procedure with the tensile strength tester were made.

The surface roughness of a few asperities and their influence on the work of adhesion is of scientific interest. Macroscale and nanoscale adhesion data have given seemingly inconsistent results. Despite the importance of bridging the gap between the two regimes, little experimental work has been done, presumably due to the difficulty of the experiment needed to determine how small amounts of surface roughness might influence adhesion data lying in between the two scales. To investigate the role of few-asperity contacts in adhesion, the pull-off force was measured between different sized AFM (Atomic-Force Microscope) tips that had different roughnesses and sample surfaces that had well-controlled material properties. The spring constant of the cantilever, the deflection of the cantilever, and the radius of the cantilever tip were measured before each experiment. There were seventeen tips of four different types, with radii from 200 nm to 60 ìm. The samples were unpatterned amorphous silicon dioxide die with two types of surface conditions: untreated and treated with a few angstroms of vapor deposited diphenylsiloxane. We observed that the pull-off force was independent of the radius of the AFM tip, which was contrary to all continuum-mechanics model predictions. To explain this behavior, we assumed that the interactions between the AFM tip and sample were additive, material properties were constant, and that the AFM tip, asperities, and sample surfaces were of uniform density. Based on these assumptions, we calculated a simple correction due to the measured Root Mean Square (RMS) surface roughness of the AFM tips. The simple correction for the RMS surface roughness resulted in the expected dependence of the pull-off force on radius, but the magnitudes were higher than expected. Commercial and heat-treated AFM tips had minimal surface roughness and result in magnitudes that were more reliable. The relative uncertainty for the pull-off force was estimated to be 10% and the work of adhesion was estimated to be 15%. In this thesis, we derive how the cantilever and tip parameters contribute to the measured pull-off force, show how the corrected results compare with theory, and demonstrate how the AFM probes were calibrated. Although much work is still needed, the work presented here should expand the understanding of adhesion between the nanoscale and macroscale.