Hubert M. Pollock

TL;DR: In this paper, contact mechanics, surfaces and adhesion are discussed in the context of contact mechanics at the nano and atomic scale, where solids and molecules are combined with molecularly-thin layers.

TL;DR: In this paper, the pull-off forces between flat glass or silicon surfaces and silicon AFM tips or glass microspheres of different sizes have been extensively studied as a function of relative humidity (RH) in the range 5−90%, as model systems for the behavior of cohesive powders.

TL;DR: In this article, the role of surface forces on deformation and adherence of metal microcontacts is reviewed and the condition of existence of each mode as a function of the five parameters involved (Young's modulus, elastic limit, surface energy, radius of curvature and load).

TL;DR: In this paper, a plot of the force interaction between two surfaces-typically a tip mounted on a cantilever beam and a flat surface-as a function of relative tip-sample separation constitutes a force curve, and such measurements have been termed force spectroscopy (FS).

TL;DR: In this article, a model and numerical simulations are presented for the response of an atomic force microscope cantilever to the extremely nonlinear impacts received while tapping a sample. But the dependence of the cantilevers amplitude and phase upon the sample stiffness, adhesion and damping are investigated using these simulations, and it is found that topographic" tapping images are not independent of sample properties, nor will it be trivial to measure materials' properties from the tapping data.