DLC AFM Probes
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HQ:NSC35/Hard/Al BS
AFM Probe with 3 Different Long Scanning, DLC Hardened Soft Tapping Mode AFM Cantilevers- 205/300/150 kHz 8.9/16/5.4 N/m
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HQ:NSC36/Hard/Al BS
AFM Probe with 3 Different Long Scanning, DLC Hardened Soft Tapping Mode AFM Cantilevers- 90/130/65 kHz 1.0/2.0/0.6 N/m
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HQ:XSC11/Hard/Al BS
AFM Probe with 4 Different Long Scanning, DLC Hardened Cantilevers for Various Applications- 15/80/155/350 kHz 0.2/2.7/7.0/42 N/m
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Videos
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DLC coated AFM tip close-upTypical 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
AluminumThe AFM probes in 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 a significant penalty on resolution. The coating is chemically inert and more hydrophobic than silicon with a natural oxide layer.
The HQ:NSC, HQ:CSC and HQ:XSC AFM tips have trihedral shape with a full cone angle of 40° and even smaller at the last 200nm of the AFM tip apex.
The aluminum reflective coating enhances the laser reflectivity of the AFM cantilever by approximately 2.5 times.
1 AFM Cantilever Series
AFM Cantilever Resonance Frequency, kHz Force Constant, N/m min typical max min typical max 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 Cantilever Resonance Frequency, kHz Force Constant, N/m min typical max min typical max 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 Cantilever Resonance Frequency, kHz Force Constant, N/m min typical max min typical max 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).
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).
