We propose Multi-Probe Ultrasonic Force Microscopy (UFM) to create and detect the motion of tip-induced surface waves and thereby study nanoscale surface dynamics. Before committing to the construction of an instrument, we investigate the theoretical feasibility of such a novel instrument to determine if the expected amplitude of induced surface waves is within the measurable range for either the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) or the Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM). We use the Rayleigh surface wave as our simple physical model. By applying the model to two commercial probes and four common samples, we have shown that the predicted amplitude of vibration of Rayleigh surface waves excited by normal AFM cantilevers operating in normal ranges is only measurable for soft polymer samples. However, the deduced dependence of the amplitude on the various parameters suggests the design of a custom AFM probe capable of producing sufficiently large amplitudes as to be measurable on a wide array of samples.
","abstract_html":"<p>We propose Multi-Probe Ultrasonic Force Microscopy (UFM) to create and detect the motion of tip-induced surface waves and thereby study nanoscale surface dynamics. Before committing to the construction of an instrument, we investigate the theoretical feasibility of such a novel instrument to determine if the expected amplitude of induced surface waves is within the measurable range for either the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) or the Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM). We use the Rayleigh surface wave as our simple physical model. By applying the model to two commercial probes and four common samples, we have shown that the predicted amplitude of vibration of Rayleigh surface waves excited by normal AFM cantilevers operating in normal ranges is only measurable for soft polymer samples. However, the deduced dependence of the amplitude on the various parameters suggests the design of a custom AFM probe capable of producing sufficiently large amplitudes as to be measurable on a wide array of samples.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Yang, Jing"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Campus Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Physics and Astronomy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Scott Crittenden"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:37:08Z","subjects":["Physical Sciences and Mathematics","Physics"],"languages":[],"rights":["© 2010, Jing Yang"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/296","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Scott Crittenden"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Yang, Jing"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics and Astronomy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Physical Sciences and Mathematics","Physics"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2010, Jing Yang"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/296"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["We propose Multi-Probe Ultrasonic Force Microscopy (UFM) to create and detect the motion of tip-induced surface waves and thereby study nanoscale surface dynamics. Before committing to the construction of an instrument, we investigate the theoretical feasibility of such a novel instrument to determine if the expected amplitude of induced surface waves is within the measurable range for either the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) or the Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM). We use the Rayleigh surface wave as our simple physical model. By applying the model to two commercial probes and four common samples, we have shown that the predicted amplitude of vibration of Rayleigh surface waves excited by normal AFM cantilevers operating in normal ranges is only measurable for soft polymer samples. However, the deduced dependence of the amplitude on the various parameters suggests the design of a custom AFM probe capable of producing sufficiently large amplitudes as to be measurable on a wide array of samples.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Feasibility of Single-Point Excitation Ultrasonic Force Microscopy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Scott Crittenden"],"dc:creator":["Yang, Jing"],"dc:description.abstract":["We propose Multi-Probe Ultrasonic Force Microscopy (UFM) to create and detect the motion of tip-induced surface waves and thereby study nanoscale surface dynamics. Before committing to the construction of an instrument, we investigate the theoretical feasibility of such a novel instrument to determine if the expected amplitude of induced surface waves is within the measurable range for either the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) or the Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM). We use the Rayleigh surface wave as our simple physical model. By applying the model to two commercial probes and four common samples, we have shown that the predicted amplitude of vibration of Rayleigh surface waves excited by normal AFM cantilevers operating in normal ranges is only measurable for soft polymer samples. However, the deduced dependence of the amplitude on the various parameters suggests the design of a custom AFM probe capable of producing sufficiently large amplitudes as to be measurable on a wide array of samples.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/296"],"dc:rights":["© 2010, Jing Yang"],"dc:subject":["Physical Sciences and Mathematics","Physics"],"dc:title":["Feasibility of Single-Point Excitation Ultrasonic Force Microscopy"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics and Astronomy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Campus Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:37:08Z"}