Investigation of Broading Modulus Range of Soft Probes by Single-beam Acoustic tweezer

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy has been developed as a primary method to quantitatively measure the nanomechanical properties of materials and cells. The elastic modulus of the sample can be acquired by measuring the deformation of the probe and the indentation of the sample. The spring constant of the probes directly determines the resolution and range in the modulus measurement. When the material modulus span is large, the probe cannot achieve an effective indentation depth, resulting in a soft probe is not competent for a stiff sample. Here we simulated the feasibility of driving a soft probe together with the acoustic radiation force and the acoustic steaming force generated by a single-beam acoustic tweezer. The single-beam acoustic tweezer can generate a driving force of more than 10 nN on the cantilevers. This work provides a reference for wide-range mechanical properties measuring method from 1 kPa to 1 GPa using a single soft probe.