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DLC AFM Probes

DLC coated AFM tip close-up DLC coated AFM tip close-up

Typical radius of uncoated AFM tip
8nm
Resulting AFM tip radius with the coating
<20nm
Full AFM tip cone angle*
40°
Total AFM tip height
12-18µm
AFM Probe material
n-type silicon
AFM Tip coating
Hard diamond-like carbon (DLC)
Detector coating
Aluminum

*The full cone angle may be less than 40° at the last 200nm of the AFM tip end.

AFM probes of series HARD feature a 20 nm wear-resistant DLC coating applied to the tip side of the AFM cantilever. The thin DLC coating offers enhanced AFM tip durability without significant penalty on resolution. The coating is chemically inert and more hydrophobic than silicon with a natural oxide layer.

The aluminum reflective coating enhances the laser reflectivity of the AFM cantilever by approximately 2.5 times.

1 AFM Cantilevers Series

AFM CantileverResonance Frequency, kHzForce Constant, N/m
mintypicalmaxmintypicalmax
14 series 110 160 220 1.8 5.0 13
15 series 265 325 410 20 40 80
16 series 170 190 210 30 45 70
17 series 10 13 17 0.06 0.18 0.40
18 series 60 75 90 1.2 2.8 5.5

 

3 AFM Cantilevers Series

AFM CantileverResonance Frequency, kHzForce Constant, N/m
mintypicalmaxmintypicalmax
35 series Cantilever A 130 205 290 2.7 8.9 24
Cantilever B 185 300 430 4.8 16 44
Cantilever C 95 150 205 1.7 5.4 14
36 series Cantilever A 30 90 160 0.1 1.0 4.6
Cantilever B 45 130 240 0.2 2 9
Cantilever C 25 65 115 0.06 0.6 2.7

 

4 AFM Cantilevers Series

AFM CantileverResonance Frequency, kHzForce Constant, N/m
mintypicalmaxmintypicalmax
11 series Cantilever A 12 15 18 0.1 0.2 0.4
Cantilever B 60 80 100 1.1 2.7 5.6
Cantilever C 115 155 200 3 7 16
Cantilever D 250 350 465 17 42 90
Application

HARD DLC coated AFM probes are designed for routine AFM measurements of robust samples, especially when the scan size is larger than 2µm. In large are scans the lateral resolution is of less importance compared to other characteristics of the AFM tip such as mechanical durability. Furthermore, a number of AFM applications require blunt AFM tips for quantitative measurements of various physical properties of the sample (friction, indentation, adhesion).

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Height image of polystyrene-polybutadiene-polystyrene triblock copolymer. Scan obtained in Tapping mode using a DLC coated AFM tip with radius about 30nm. Image courtesy of S. Magonov (Bruker).

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