Micro depth-sensing

In general, the available indentation techniques are based either on scanning force microscopy (SFM) or on dedicated indentation setups providing well-defined tip geometries. The two approaches are described in Sections 8.2.1 and 8.2.2, respectively. Issues related to potential artifacts in IP characterization are discussed in Section 8.3. Finally, examples of epoxy IP characterization by means of SFM-based stiffness mapping as well as depth-sensing micro-indentation (DSI) are given in Sections 8.4.1 and 8.4.2, respectively. 

The micro- and nanoindentation methods have been widely used to determine the hardness of ZnO over a wide range of size scales and temperatures. Hardness measurements are usually carried out on the (0001) surface of the crystal using the conventional pyramidal or spherical diamond tip, or alternatively, with a sharp triangular indentei The depth-sensing indentation measurements provide the complete information on the hardness and pressure-induced phase transformation of semiconductor materials. Table 1.6 shows the measured and calculated mechanical parameters for ZnO crystallized in the form of wurtzite, zinc blende, and rocksalt phases. 

Flow injection on renewable surfaces techniques (FI-RST [12,13]) are suitable for micro miniaturization, since their key component, the jet ring cell (Fig. 3), has in its present form a circular detection area of 800 microns and a depth of 50 to 1000 microns. This device, originally designed for FI microscopy of live adherent cells [13], has found its application in fluorescence based immunoassays and reflectance based UV-VIS spectroscopy. The sensing layer in the JR cell comprises several thousand 35 micron polymer beads, which serve as reactive surfaces for protein and reagent adsorption. The cell is a part of a sequential injection system, which allows, besides conventional FI operations (sample injection, carrier pumping, reagent addition) also injection of a well... 

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