SILICON NITRIDE

Silicon nitride probes are manufactured using thin film technology. As a result, their cantilevers can be thinner and with lower force constants than those made of silicon. In addition, silicon nitride is harder than silicon, offering good tip durability.

Silicon nitride probes are often used for soft contact mode measurements on biological samples and other soft matter. The reflective gold coating is chemically inert and ensures stable reflectivity in liquids and buffer solutions. The optional tip side gold coating makes the tip slightly rounder and more suitable for scanning extremely sensitive and tear prone surfaces such as cell membranes. It also opens the possibility for tip functionalization.

AFM topography image of human erythrocytes performed with the long cantilever of the XNC12 in contact mode.

Probes

xnc12 probes

Probes with two triangular silicon nitride cantilevers with square pyramidal tips on each side of the glass holder chip. No coating or gold coating on the tips.

Typical radius of uncoated tip 10 nm
Typical spike radius 10 nm
Spike height
Resulting tip radius with the coating 30 nm
Full tip cone angle* 70°
Total tip height 3.5 nm
Probe material Silicon nitride
Probe bulk resistivity 0.01 - 0.025 Ohm*cm
Tip coating Gold
Detector coating Gold

ORDERING OPTIONS

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SILICON NITRIDE

Probes with silicon nitride cantilevers and tips.

10-30 nm radius pyramidal tip
XNC12