{
  "abstract": "The viscoelastic response of phase-separated polymers systems may deviate from bulk values at the nanoscale. However, current measurement techniques lack the resolution to unmask local variations. We previously demonstrated the advantages of using a focused, pulsed infrared (IR) laser to photothermally heat a sample locally during nanomechanical measurements with an atomic force microscope (AFM), with heating controlled by varying the laser repetition rate. Herein, we demonstrate this IR heating coupled with nano-Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (nDMA). First, we measured the storage and loss modulus of a homogenous copolymer at varying IR repetition rates (i.e., at varying sample temperature), demonstrating a viscoelastic modulus response that is typical near the glass transition temperature. Further, we varied the IR laser repetition rate while modulating the AFM probe between 5 Hz and 100 Hz. With time-temperature superposition, modulus master curves were constructed through the Williams-Landel-Ferry relation, and the shift factors of IR heating-coupled nDMA curves were used to estimate the relation between IR repetition rate and surface temperatures. Lastly, this technique was applied to a phase-separated polymer blend to demonstrate the utility of the technique to decouple the viscoelastic behavior of different phases by leveraging the high spatial resolution of AFM.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Materials Science and Engineering",
    "Stanford University",
    "Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering",
    "University of Maryland",
    "Bruker Nano Surfaces Division",
    "Department of Chemistry",
    "Department of Chemical Engineering",
    "Department of Mechanical Engineering",
    "Kyushu University",
    "Nanoscale Device Characterization Division",
    "National Institute of Standards and Technology"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Carina Yi Jing Lim",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7172-9726"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Jeffrey J. Schwartz",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1544-1901"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Bede Pittenger",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5980-878X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yuran Shi",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1136-3694"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        1,
        7,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Yoko Tomo",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6002-1506"
    },
    {
      "name": "Peter De Wolf",
      "orcid": "0009-0005-7178-6228"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9,
        10
      ],
      "name": "Andrea Centrone",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2919-3366"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zhenan Bao",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0972-1715"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lukas Michalek",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2257-5038"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4015dx173gv23.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15000735/v4",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "4015dx173gv23",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15000735/v4",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7216231091",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv.15000735/v4",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4015dx173gv23.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:21Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15000735",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15000735/v4"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "openalex:3107|Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications",
      "subfield": "amo"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Spatially-Resolved Viscoelastic Response with AFM-IR",
  "title_text": "Spatially-Resolved Viscoelastic Response with AFM-IR",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:21Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4015dx173gv23",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}