Direct Force Spectroscopy – Measuring Interaction Forces Between Surfaces At The Nano-Scale

Seminar | February 10 | 2-3 p.m. | 277 Cory Hall

Speaker/Performer:  Prof. Tonya Kuhl, UC Davis, Chemical Engineering

Sponsor:  Berkeley Nanosciences and Nanoengineering Institute

The Surface Force Apparatus (SFA) is a highly versatile method for directly measuring the interaction forces between two surfaces with sub-nanometer resolution in distance and 10 picoNewtons in force. Both the normal and shear force between the surfaces can be measured as well as the refractive index of the films to ±0.005.

This talk will describe the SFA technique in detail and highlight a few systems (polymer thin-films and surfactant/biological membrane interactions) as a means to elucidate the quantitative capabilities of high-resolution force spectroscopy to determine the properties and dynamics of a variety of interfacial films and materials under nano-confinement.
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Tonya Kuhl did her PhD and postdoc at UC Santa Barbara. She has been Chair of the ChemE Dept at UC Davis since 2019.

Event Contact:  victorr@eecs.berkeley.edu, 510-643-6681

Access Coordinator:  Avi Rosenzweig,  victorr@eecs.berkeley.edu,  510-643-6681