The operational definition of observational congruence in CCS and ACP can be split into two parts: one, the definition of an observational semantics (i.e. abstraction); and two, the definition of a strong congruence. In both cases this “separation of concerns” has been applied with abstraction that is implicitly “fair”. We define a novel (if obvious) observational semantics with no implicit “fa...

Atomic manipulation enables us to fabricate a unique structure at the atomic scale. So far, many atomic manipulations have been reported on conductive surfaces, mainly at low temperature with scanning tunnelling microscopy, but atomic manipulation on an insulator at room temperature is still a long-standing challenge. Here we present a systematic atomic manipulation on an insulating surface by ...

The phase angle of the cantilever oscillation in tapping mode scanning force microscopy can be related to the energy dissipated per oscillation period through an analytical model that assumes a sinusoidal movement of the cantilever @J. Tamayo and R. Garcı́a, Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 2926 ~1998!; J. P. Cleveland, B. Anczykowski, E. Schmid, and V. Elings, Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 2613 ~1998!#. In this w...

One major drawback identified in atomic force microscopy imaging is the dependence of the image’s precision on the shape of the probe tip. In this paper a simple algorithm is proposed to provide artifact identification signaling in-situ tip features in atomic force microscopy images. The base of the identifications lied when the angle formed between two scanned points was kept the same as the t...

Single-molecule force spectroscopy with an atomic force microscope has been widely used to study inter- and intramolecular interactions. To obtain data consistent with single molecular events, a well-defined method is critical to limit the number of molecules at the apex of an AFM probe to one or to a few. In this paper, we demonstrate an easy method for single-molecule probe modification by us...

Atomic Force Microscope and related techniques have played a key role in the development of the nanotechnology revolution that is taking place in science. This paper reviews the basic principles behind the technique and its different operation modes and applications, pointing out research works performed in the Nanometric Techniques Unit of the CCiTUB in order to exemplify the vast array of cap...