Application of AFM Measurement and Fractal Analysis to Study the Surface of Natural Optical Structures

Advanced morphological analysis of siloxane-hydrogel contact lenses

The purpose of this work is to provide a better understanding of three-dimensional (3-D) surface texture of siloxane-hydrogel contact lenses (CLs) using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and stereometric analysis. The 3-D surface texture characterization of unworn/worn siloxane-hydrogel CLs made of Filcon V (I FDA group) was performed with stereometric analysis. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements of surface roughness and micromorphology of CLs were made using a Nanoscope V MultiMode (Bruker) in intermittent-contact mode, in air, on square areas of 5 × 5 μm. Stereometric study of 3-D surface texture was made according with ISO 25178-2:2012 for CL_rins (taken from the blister and rinsed with deionized water); CL_ss (preserved for 12 hr in saline solution and rinsed with deionized water); CL_worn-smooth (worn for 8 hr and presenting the smooth type morphology), and CL_worn-sharp (worn for 8 hr and presenting the sharp-type morphology). The 3-D surface texture of siloxane-hydrogel CLs was found to have specific morphological characteristics. Statistical parameters revealed local geometrical and morphological spatial structures at nanometer scale attributed to the specific interactions at the CLs surface. Before wear, the surface micromorphology of Filcon V CLs is regular with uniformly distributed microasperities and relatively small heights (Sq = 0.6 nm). After 12 hr in saline, it is found that the micromorphology changes relatively easily, but retaining the main morphological characteristics (Sq = 1.2 nm). After 8 hr of wear, there are two typical micromorphologies: smooth type, characterized by gutter structures and isolated microasperities (Sq = 2.5 nm), while the sharp type has an appearance with compactly arranged microasperities of hill type flanked by compactly arranged microregions of valley type (Sq = 2.2 nm). Surface statistical parameters allow manufacturers in developing the next generation of CLs with improved surface texture while improving biocompatibility and minimizing the impact of the material on corneal physiology. Furthermore, the micro-elastohydrodynamic lubrication due to surface texture at a nanometer scale between the back surface of the CL with the corneal surface and the front surface of the CL with the under-surface of the eyelid can be deeper and more nuanced to understand in light of modern tribological theories.

Atomic force microscopy studies of enamel, inner enamel, dentin, and cementum in canine teeth

The main goal of the present work is to explore the three dimensional (3-D) atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of human teeth and investigating their micromorphology. For this purpose, 10 fresh and permanent canine teeth were selected from a group of 40-year-old men who were candidate for the experimental processes. Afterward, they were all applied for studying the morphology of their hard tissues. The tapping mode of AFM was used to characterize the surface micromorphology on the square areas of 1 μm × 1 μm (512 × 512 pts). AFM results and surface stereometric analysis indicate the relationships between the micromorphology of the surface and the structural properties of these tissues across the length scales. As can be seen, the surface of cementum has the most irregular topography (D = 2.87 ± 0.01) while the most regular topography (D = 2.43 ± 0.01) is found in dentin. Furthermore, the more and less regularity of the surface have been found in inner enamel (Sq = 26.26 nm) and dentin (Sq = 41.28 nm), respectively. Stereometric and fractal analyses give valuable information about human canine teeth via 3-D micromorphology.

3D Roughness Measurement of Failure Surface in CFA Pile Samples Using Three-Dimensional Laser Scanning

The bearing capacity of CFA (Continuous Flight Auger) pile is not able to reach the design capacity if proper construction is not performed due to the soil collapse at the bottom of the pile. In this paper, three pile samples were prepared to simulate the bottom of the CFA pile: grouting sample; mixture of grouting and gravel; mixture of grouting and sand. The failure surfaces of each sample obtained by a uniaxial compression tests were represented as a three-dimensional point cloud by three-dimensional laser scanning. Therefore, high resolution of point clouds can be obtained to simulate the failure surfaces of three samples. The three-dimensional point cloud of each failure surface was analyzed by a plane to points histogram (P2PH) method and a roughness detection method by kernel proposed in this paper. These methods can analyze the global roughness as well as the local roughness of the three pile samples in three dimensions. The roughness features of the grouting sample, the mixed sample of grouting and sand, and the mixed sample of grouting and gravel can be distinguished by the sections where points of each sample are predominantly distributed in the histogram of the proposed method.

Stereometric analysis of Amazon rainforest Anacardium occidentale L. leaves

AFM, profilometry and SEM measurements on both sides of the Anacardium occidentale L. leaf reveal that ultrastructure presented some singularities due to their different morphologies and roughness. The advanced stereometry and power spectrum density of both sides of the Anacardium occidentale L. leaf were carefully studied. We use three different microscopy techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, profilometry, and atomic force microscopy for a complete description of the leaf surface morphology. The morphology of the adaxial and abaxial sides revealed a surface composed of striated cuticles and stomata cells, respectively. The height parameters obtained by profilometry revealed that the abaxial side was rougher. However, both sides presented similar Gaussian height distribution and asymmetry. The advanced stereometric parameters obtained by the topographic maps of AFM revealed that the two sides have some singularities due to their different morphologies and roughness, but with similar microtextures. However, average PSD spectra showed that adaxial and abaxial sides are dominated by relatively low and high spatial frequencies, showing that the microtextures, unlike what was shown in stereometric parameters, are different. These results revealed that leaves surface morphology under different aspects and scales and the quantitative parameters confirmed the different spatial patterns displayed, which can be of great interest for the study of the biological behavior of plants from their leaves.

Experimental Study on the Thickness-Dependent Hardness of SiO2 Thin Films Using Nanoindentation

SiO2 thin films are widely used in micro-electro-mechanical systems, integrated circuits and optical thin film devices. Tremendous efforts have been devoted to studying the preparation technology and optical properties of SiO2 thin films, but little attention has been paid to their mechanical properties. Herein, the surface morphology of the 500-nm-thick, 1000-nm-thick and 2000-nm-thick SiO2 thin films on the Si substrates was observed by atomic force microscopy. The hardnesses of the three SiO2 thin films with different thicknesses were investigated by nanoindentation technique, and the dependence of the hardness of the SiO2 thin film with its thickness was analyzed. The results showed that the average grain size of SiO2 thin film increased with increasing film thickness. For the three SiO2 thin films with different thicknesses, the same relative penetration depth range of ~0.4–0.5 existed, above which the intrinsic hardness without substrate influence can be determined. The average intrinsic hardness of the SiO2 thin film decreased with the increasing film thickness and average grain size, which showed the similar trend with the Hall-Petch type relationship.

CuO/Cu core/shell nanostructured photoconductive devices by hot water treatment and high pressure sputtering techniques

This work demonstrates the fabrication of simple photoconductive devices based on CuO/Cu core/shell nanostructured heterojunction that performs notable photocurrent response. Copper oxide (CuO) nanoleaf structures (NLs) have been successfully grown on ITO-coated glass substrate via a simple hot water treatment (HWT) method. A conformal Cu shell was fabricated by high pressure sputtered (HIPS) deposition technique on the CuO nanoleaves to produce NLs-core/metal shell photoconductive devices. For comparison, CuO thin film (TF) was prepared by the thermal oxidation method to manufacture the conventional planar thin film devices. Results showed that the HWT method resulted in the formation of dense 3D CuO nanoleaves on ITO/glass substrate with a high surface area. CuO NLs showed higher optical absorption than CuO TF in the ultraviolet and visible spectrum. Further, the optical band gaps of CuO NLs and TF samples have been estimated from Touc's plot to be 1.45 ± 0.10 eV and 1.63 ± 0.20 eV, respectively. Current density-voltage measurements' result revealed that core/shell devices have superior photocurrent response compared to TF devices. The average photocurrent density at zero-bias for the NLs devices was 23.5 ± 2.0 μA cm^-2 and for TF devices was 6.7 ± 1.0 μA cm^-2. Besides, NLs core/shell photoconductive devices exhibit a remarkable increase in photocurrent response values with increasing bias voltage compared to the increased values in TF devices. The results demonstrate that the devices based on HWT-NLs-core/HIPS-shell design showed a significant enhancement on the photoconductivity response compared with the conventional TF design. The performance enhancement can be attributed to improving light trapping, photocarriers generation-recombination times and carrier collection by introducing an alternative radial interface in core/shell design. Also, HWT CuO NLs geometry feature with the high surface area has worked to enhance light absorption that enables the design of high efficiency, functional and commercial photoconductive detectors.

Stereometric analysis of Ta 2 O 5 thin films

The purpose of this work is the study of the correlation between the thickness of tantalum pentoxide thin films and their three-dimensional (3D) micromorphology. The samples were prepared on silicon substrates by electron beam evaporation. The differences in surface structure of the processed and reference samples were investigated. Compositional studies were performed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Stereometric analysis was carried out on the basis of atomic force microscopy (AFM) data, for tantalum pentoxide samples with 20 nm, 40 nm, 60 nm, 80 nm and 100 nm thicknesses. These methods are frequently used in describing experimental data of surface nanomorphology of Ta2O5. The results can be used to validate theoretical models for prediction or correlation of nanotexture surface parameters.