AFM4aStory — Amélioration de la plateforme pluridisciplinaire de microscopie à force atomique pour la compréhension de l'histoire des matériaux archéologiques

Since, Feynman’s famous lecture in 1960 titled “There is Plenty of Room at the Bottom” researchers from a vast number of fields have been thinking small. The first Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) in 1986 aided researchers in this quest by imaging both conductive and insulating materials at the nano-scale. Today’s AFM applications span scientific [1], historical [2], biological [3] and engineering [4] endeavors. The IMAFMP platform (Interdisciplinary Multiscale Atomic Force Microscope Platform – funded via équipement mi-lourd DIM 2011: C’Nano and ISC – IDF) welcomes researchers from across the full spectrum of sciences. The principal investigator and manager of the platform, Cindy L. Rountree, along with IMAFMP partners have had the privilege to work with several projects close in lines with DIM-MAP objectives. First, the IMAFMP enables S. CHARBONNIER and D. GASPARD from Centre de Recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité & les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Université, to understand the blurring effect in the hierarchical architecture of the shell layers of some rhnychonelliform brachiopods via the state of the art Nano-Mechanical AFM. Secondly, the IMAFMP welcomed F. Mercier (CNRS-NIMBE) with the help of L. Tortech (IMAFMP researcher) in their search to understand the corrosion layer growth in an archeological nail. Preliminary tests [5] concerning both projects show the benefits of the IMAFMP platform to historical artifacts and fossils. Additionally, both projects would greatly benefit from the upgrade proposed in AFM4aStory.