Seminário do Departamento de Física - Stabilized atomic force microscopy:towards the direct measurement of interatomic potentials

Seminário DF Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universida NOVA de Lisboa, Campus da Caparica, Portugal Auditório Manuel Laranjeira 213 - Edifício I 

Online em https://videoconfcolibri.zoom.us/j/344521416?pwd=WVdzSFQ4cXdJT2oyMzdITjlLaDN6Zz09

21 de Junho de 2023 às 14h00

Stabilized atomic force microscopy:towards the direct measurement of interatomic potentials

Prof. Dr. Mário S Rodrigues Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

Resumo:

The interatomic potential determines all the properties of matter, and it is behind the incredible spatial resolution of the atomic force microscope. Yet, conventional atomic force microscopes cannot directly measure the interatomic potential. In most cases, the jump-to-contact prevents this measurement, and in other cases, only the force gradient is measured. Here, I will present the background of this scenario and show how to overcome this problem by actively stabilizing the probe of the atomic force microscope. I will exemplify the advantages by showing how this stabilization technique allows measuring the condensation time of a water nanobridge or how it allows determining the mechanical properties of soft matter without contact’ Mário S Rodrigues Bio: Mário S Rodrigues is an Assistant Professor at the Physics department of Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon (FCUL) since April 2019. He is a member of Biophysics and Nanosystems Group a research group within Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute (BioISI). He leads his team at the Atomic Force Microscopy and Related Techniques Laboratory.He was not yet 16 when he started his professional life at a cork factory, working full-time from 1994 until 2002. Nonetheless, in 1999 he enrolled in Physical Engineering at Ciências and graduated in due time in 2004. He completed a PhD thesis in Physique de la Matière condensée et du Rayonne-ment in 2009. During his PhD thesis he developed an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) adapted to the noisy environment of a synchrotron radiation beamline,but also fully integrated with it. He spent his last years actively contributing to the enhancement of atomic force microscopy and related techniques in particular for use in liquid media and to investigate biological materials. He was a scientist at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, August 2010 -December 2011) when he developed the patented Force Feedback Microscopy, a new technique that overcomes the most fundamental limitation in conventional AFM. He was successful in many FCT calls, namely call for PhD students in 2004; call for post Docs 2012; and as PI in the 2013 call for exploratory grants EXPL/FIS-NAN/1395/2013 (49,920.00€); from 2016 project grant PTDC/FIS-NAN/6101/2014 (198 k€) Molecular and Mechanical Forces in Biology measured with Force Feedback Microscopy and since 2022 project grant PTDC/FISMAC/2741/2021 (250k€) Viscoelastic Cells - new experimental approaches based on atomic force microscopy