Advanced Tip at the End of the Cantilever™Non-Contact/Tapping Mode, Au coated
NANOSENSORS™ AdvancedTEC™ NCAu AFM tips are designed for non-contact or tapping mode imaging. They feature a tetrahedral AFM tip that protrudes from the very end of the AFM cantilever. This unique feature allows precise positioning and makes the AdvancedTEC™ the only AFM scanning probe in the world that offers REAL TIP VISIBILITY FROM TOP, even when the AFM probe is tilted due to its mounting onto the AFM head. This feature makes them the premium choice for all applications where the AFM tip has to be placed exactly on the point of interest and/or has to be visible (e.g. Nanomanipulation).
Due to their very small half cone angles the AFM tips of the AdvancedTEC™ Series show great performance on samples that have a small pattern size combined with steep sample features.
The AFM probe offers unique features:
- real AFM tip visibility from top
- metallic conductivity of the AFM tip
- AFM tip height 15 - 20 µm
- high mechanical Q-factor for high sensitivity
The metallic coating is an approximately 70 nm thick double layer of chromium and gold on both sides of the AFM cantilever.The tip side coating enhances the conductivity of the AFM tip and allows electrical contacts. The detector side coating enhances the reflectivity of the laser beam by a factor of about 2 and prevents light from interfering within the AFM cantilever. The coating process is optimized for stress compensation and wear resistance. As the coating is nearly stress-free the bending of the AFM cantilever due to stress is less than 2 degrees.
Please note: Wear at the AFM tip can occur if operating in contact-, friction- or force modulation mode or where it is necessary to conduct high currents.