Uploads from Breaking Taps

Currently Playing: Microscopic view of Tungsten Disulfide

CONSIDER SUBSCRIBING 🥰 ☕Buy me a coffee? https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Breakingtaps 🔬Or Patreon if that's your jam: https://www.patreon.com/breakingtaps 📢Twitter: https://twitter.com/BreakingTaps 💻Discord: https://discord.gg/R45uCXcEv4 Start of a new segment, Micrograph Monday! In these short segments, I would like to share some cool scans from the AFM, optical microscopes or other instruments I have around the shop. Basically just a way for me to share interesting findings without a full blown project video. Hope you enjoy! ======= Background Information ======= This first video is about Tungsten Disulfide (WS2), a transition metal dichalcogenides which forms 2D sheets similar to graphene. These sheets are held together loosely via Van der Waals forces. This allows the sheets to be exfoliated (mechanically or chemically) very easily to obtain single monolayers. High quality monolayers can also be grown by CVD or other methods. In the macro world, WS2 is often used as a high temperature dry lubricant. The mechanism is identical to graphite lubricant; the stacks of microplatelets exfoliate onto the two rubbing surfaces, and WS2 has a very low coefficient of friction with itself (due to the VdW forces) so it helps the surfaces slide against each other. Being composed of Tungsten is also has a very high thermal decomposition temperature. At the micro/nano level, scientists are researching it as a material for ultrathin semiconductor junctions. WS2 is a semiconductor with some interesting properties, and since monolayers can be obtained it is theoretically possible to create super thin transistors. There are a lot of obstacles to get there though, but it's a very interesting material to watch! ======= Equipment and techniques ======= nGauge AFM from ICSPI: https://www.icspicorp.com/ Scans are post processed in Gwyddion (http://gwyddion.net/) and 3D images rendered in Blender Microscope: "3.5X-180X Simul-Focal Stereo Zoom Microscope with 30W LED Illuminator" from Amscope ======= Timeline ======= 0:00 Micrograph Monday 0:40 Tungsten Disulfide 2:40 AFM Images! 4:50 AFM probe under the microscope 8:03 Future Micrograph Monday subjects