Precision and accuracy of thermal calibration of atomic force microscopy cantilevers
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48201 (United States)
To have confidence in force measurements made with atomic force microscopes (AFMs), the spring constant of the AFM cantilevers should be known with good precision and accuracy, a topic not yet thoroughly treated in the literature. In this study, we compared the stiffnesses of uncoated tipless uniform rectangular silicon cantilevers among thermal, loading, and geometric calibration methods; loading was done against an artifact from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The artifact was calibrated at NIST using forces that were traceable to the International System of units. The precision and accuracy of the thermal method were found to be 5% and 10%, respectively. Force measurements taken with different cantilevers can now be meaningfully compared.
- OSTI ID:
- 20853509
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 77, Issue 8; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2336115; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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