These cantilevers may be useful for material-sensitive contrast and phase-enhanced images of soft samples, whose stiffness is not known. The right stiffness of a cantilever can be chosen during the experiment. One should also take into account that the characteristics of the cantilevers may vary slightly, and having three cantilevers helps choosing the best match for the experiment.

The redundant two cantilevers have to be briken off, otherwize they may cause a cross-talk in tapping mode, especially in liquid. In contact mode, the redundant cantilevers may damage the sample, if not broken off.