Quantifying dissipative contributions in nanoscale interactions

Imaging with nanoscale resolution has become routine practice with the use of scanning probe techniques. Nevertheless, quantification of material properties and processes has been hampered by the complexity of the tip-surface interaction and the dependency of the dynamics on operational parameters. Here, we propose a framework for the quantification of the coefficients of viscoelasticity, surface energy, surface energy hysteresis and elastic modulus. Quantification of these parameters at the nanoscale will provide a firm ground to the understanding and modelling of tribology and nanoscale sciences with true nanoscale resolution.