PointProbe® Series Silicon AFM Tips - General Description

General

• SPM and AFM probes for very high resolution imaging
• fit to all well-known commercial SPMs and AFMs
• AFM cantilever and AFM tip are supported by a single crystal silicon support chip
• monolithic design of support chip, AFM cantilever and AFM tip

Material Features

• highly doped, single crystal silicon (resistivity 0.01 - 0.025 Ohm•cm)
• no intrinsic stress and absolutely straight AFM cantilevers
• chemically inert silicon for application in fluids or electrochemical cells

AFM Cantilever

• rectangular AFM cantilever with trapezoidal cross section
• wide detector side for easy laser beam adjustment
• small width at the tip side reduces damping

Support Chip

• AFM cantilever is integrated into a silicon support chip
• dimensions of the support chip are very reproducible (3.4 mm x 1.6 mm x 0.3 mm)
• alignment grooves on the back side of the silicon support chip in conjunction with the alignment chip ensure replacement of the probes without major readjustment of the laser beam

AFM Tip

• AFM tip is shaped like a polygon based pyramid
• AFM tip height 10-15 µm and radius of curvature typically < 8 nm (< 12 nm guaranteed)
• macroscopic half cone angles :
      - 20° to 25° seen along the AFM cantilever axis
      - 25° to 30° seen from the side