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Title: Effect of cantilever geometry on the optical lever sensitivities and thermal noise method of the atomic force microscope

Abstract

Calibration of the optical lever sensitivities of atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers is especially important for determining the force in AFM measurements. These sensitivities depend critically on the cantilever mode used and are known to differ for static and dynamic measurements. Here, we calculate the ratio of the dynamic and static sensitivities for several common AFM cantilevers, whose shapes vary considerably, and experimentally verify these results. The dynamic-to-static optical lever sensitivity ratio is found to range from 1.09 to 1.41 for the cantilevers studied – in stark contrast to the constant value of 1.09 used widely in current calibration studies. This analysis shows that accuracy of the thermal noise method for the static spring constant is strongly dependent on cantilever geometry – neglect of these dynamic-to-static factors can induce errors exceeding 100%. We also discuss a simple experimental approach to non-invasively and simultaneously determine the dynamic and static spring constants and optical lever sensitivities of cantilevers of arbitrary shape, which is applicable to all AFM platforms that have the thermal noise method for spring constant calibration.

Authors:
;  [1]
  1. School of Chemistry and Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22392231
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Review of Scientific Instruments
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 85; Journal Issue: 11; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; ACCURACY; ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY; CALIBRATION; ERRORS; GEOMETRY; MICROSCOPES; NOISE; SENSITIVITY; SHAPE; SPRINGS

Citation Formats

Sader, John E., E-mail: jsader@unimelb.edu.au, Lu, Jianing, and Mulvaney, Paul. Effect of cantilever geometry on the optical lever sensitivities and thermal noise method of the atomic force microscope. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4900864.
Sader, John E., E-mail: jsader@unimelb.edu.au, Lu, Jianing, & Mulvaney, Paul. Effect of cantilever geometry on the optical lever sensitivities and thermal noise method of the atomic force microscope. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4900864
Sader, John E., E-mail: jsader@unimelb.edu.au, Lu, Jianing, and Mulvaney, Paul. 2014. "Effect of cantilever geometry on the optical lever sensitivities and thermal noise method of the atomic force microscope". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4900864.
@article{osti_22392231,
title = {Effect of cantilever geometry on the optical lever sensitivities and thermal noise method of the atomic force microscope},
author = {Sader, John E., E-mail: jsader@unimelb.edu.au and Lu, Jianing and Mulvaney, Paul},
abstractNote = {Calibration of the optical lever sensitivities of atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers is especially important for determining the force in AFM measurements. These sensitivities depend critically on the cantilever mode used and are known to differ for static and dynamic measurements. Here, we calculate the ratio of the dynamic and static sensitivities for several common AFM cantilevers, whose shapes vary considerably, and experimentally verify these results. The dynamic-to-static optical lever sensitivity ratio is found to range from 1.09 to 1.41 for the cantilevers studied – in stark contrast to the constant value of 1.09 used widely in current calibration studies. This analysis shows that accuracy of the thermal noise method for the static spring constant is strongly dependent on cantilever geometry – neglect of these dynamic-to-static factors can induce errors exceeding 100%. We also discuss a simple experimental approach to non-invasively and simultaneously determine the dynamic and static spring constants and optical lever sensitivities of cantilevers of arbitrary shape, which is applicable to all AFM platforms that have the thermal noise method for spring constant calibration.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4900864},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22392231}, journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
issn = {0034-6748},
number = 11,
volume = 85,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}