Micro/nano-thermal analysis

Thermal analysis (TA) comprises a family of measuring techniques that share a common feature they measure a material s response to being heated or cooled (or, in some cases, held isothermally). The goal is to establish a connection between temperature and specific physical properties of materials. The most popular techniques are those that are the subject of this book, namely differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), thermomechanical analysis (TMA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), dielectric analysis (DEA), and micro/nano-thermal analysis (p/n-TA). 

G. Markovi6, S. Samarzija-Jovanovib, V. JovanovR, M. Marinovic-Cincovic, Thermal stability of CR/CSM rubber blends filled with nano-and micro-silica particles. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 100 (3) (2010) 881-888. 

Localized thermal analysis (LTA micro- or nano-thermal... 

In principle, it can be envisaged that a thermal probe could be used in conjunction with an optical microscope that would image the sample surface to facilitate selection of the locations for analysis in other words, an atomic force microscope is not strictly necessary. In practice, all micro/nano-TA to date has been performed using an AFM, so we will consider this option only in this section. In its modern form micro/nano-TA can be interfaced with a wide range of AFMs, and so exact details of the procedure will vary from instrument to instrument, here we will discuss generic requirements. 

At the time of writing there is only one manufacturer of micro/nano-TA equipment Anasys Instruments, (www.anasysinstruments.com). They supply the hardware and software for local thermal analysis and thermal imaging that can be interfaced with the most popular types of atomic force microscope. More recently they have launched an instrument based on an optical microscope, the Vesta system, which is simpler to use than an atomic force microscope but the spatial resolution is limited to approximately 1.5 micrometers, see Fig. 7.22. The Wollaston probes are supplied by Veeco (www.veeco.com) and are, therefore, compatible only with Veeco AFMs. The nanoprobes are supplied by Anasys Instruments and can be used with most popular makes of AFM. In addition, Anasys Instruments supply calibration kits containing temperature standards. More recently they have launched an instrument based on an optical microscope, the Vesta system, which is simpler to use than an atomic force microscope, but the spatial resolution is limited to approximately 1.5 pm. 

Micro- and nano-scale local thermal analysis... 

Guan, Y., Gong, Y.H. Li, W.J. Quantitative analysis of micro structural and conductivily evolution of Ni-YSZ anodes during thermal cycling based on nano-computed tomography. J. Power Sources 196 (2011), pp. 10,601 10,605. 

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