AVS 63rd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Surface Science Tuesday Sessions
       Session SS-TuP

Paper SS-TuP10
Nanomechanical Properties of Eutectic Gallium-Indium Particles by Atomic Force Microscopy

Tuesday, November 8, 2016, 6:30 pm, Room Hall D

Session: Surface Science Poster Session
Presenter: Syeda Akhter, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Authors: S. Akhter, University of Massachusetts, Boston
I. Tevis, SAFI-Tech
M. Thuo, Iowa State University
M. Foster, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Correspondent: Click to Email
Eutectic Gallium-Indium (EGaIn) alloy is a liquid metal at room temperature that, under air, forms a passivating native thin (~0.7 nm) oxide layer. This oxide layer plays an important role in the overall mechanical properties of the alloy. The metallic and physical properties of EGaIn make it effective at conducting, and dissipating, heat away from temperature sensitive components. Being a deformable liquid metal, EGaIn is consistently electrically conductive even when a supporting polymeric channel is excessively stretched. EGaIn particles, with a liquid core and a thin oxide shell, are created with diameters that range from 6.4 nm to >10 μm using fluidic shearing. The mechanical properties, such as the flexibility of the oxide shell, especially on nano- and micro-particles, are unknown. Atomic Force Microscopy, however, is a versatile instrument for imaging surface topography as well as for characterizing material properties, such as elasticity and film thickness at the micro- and nanoscale via force-distance curves (F-D curves). F-D curves are the result of interactions, upon contact, between an AFM tip and the surface of the sample due to the elastic force of the cantilever and values can be measured with resolutions up to pico-Newtons. This poster describes our studies on mechanical properties of EGaIn thin film and particles of various sizes via AFM F-D curves.