Symposium B:

Mechanical Properties of Materials at the Nanometer Length Scales

As the defining length scales in materials microstructures and device dimensions decrease from thousands to tens of nanometers, the effect of surfaces and interfaces on their mechanical behavior becomes more prominent. Examples include the dislocation source starvation model used to describe the size-dependent strength of single crystalline sub-micron pillars and the breakdown of the Hall-Petch relationship for nano-crystalline metals. Likewise, in the case of an organic-based materials system, it is widely accepted that the elastic response of a cell probed in vitro depends in turn on the elasticity of the substrate. In order to mimic the cells in vivo behavior, much research has been done to determine appropriate compliant polymeric surfaces to act as cell substrata.

In all of these examples and many more, the researchers rely on the ability to be able to measure the mechanical properties at the nanometer length scales. This symposium will focus on those techniques by which nanomechanical behavior of both organic and inorganic materials systems can be characterized. While emphasis will be on two experimental methods in particular, nanoindentation and force spectroscopy by AFM, other experimental and computational approaches are welcome for abstract submission. In addition, both materials problem solving and technique development will be considered for presentation.

Hot topics to be covered by the symposium:

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Technique development and materials problem solving using depth-sensing instrumentation (nanoindentation and AFM)
• AFM high-resolution force spectroscopy of biological and polymeric systems
• Time-dependent indentation behavior for visco-elastic materials
• Pop-in and pop-out phenomena in nanoindentation
• Biologically active single molecule force measurements by AFM
• Mapping cell adhesion forces with the AFM
• Size-effects on deformation behavior for both organic and inorganic materials systems, e.g. grain size, thin film thickness, patterned sub-micron structures
• Elastic and plastic behavior of fabricated nano-sized structures, e.g. nanotubes, nanowires, cellular and protein scaffolds
• Lateral force measurements and friction behavior at the nanometer length scales resulting from sliding contact loads on organic and inorganic materials systems surfaces
• Other experimental nanomechanical characterization techniques, e.g. optical tweezers, in situ SEM nanoindentation

Invited speakers (confirmed list):

• Julia Greer (California Institute of Technology)
• Ying Chen (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• Fernando Ponce (Arizona State University)
• Ainissa Ramirez (Yale University)
• Carlos Lepienski (Universidade Federal do Parana)
• Sergio Camargo (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
• Benjamin Fragneaud (Columbia University)

Full papers: Journal of Materials Science (Springer) will publish Special ICAM 2009 issue(s) containing full papers of abstracts presented in this symposium provided such manuscripts are reviewed according to the Journal standards. Authors are invited, not obliged, to submit full length manuscripts.

For instructions, please check Full Papers Publication.

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