Saddle-Node Bifurcation and Homoclinic Persistence in AFM with Periodic Forcing

Abstract

We study the dynamics of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) model, under the Lennard-Jones force with non-linear damping, and harmonic forcing. We establish the bifurcation diagrams for equilibria in a conservative system. Particularly, we present conditions that guarantee the local existence of saddle-node bifurcations. By using the Melnikov method, the region in the space parameters where the persistence of homoclinic orbits is determined in a non-conservative system.