AFM Standard Cantilever

The AFM Standard Cantilever is a plug-and-play probe featuring piezoresistive readout and integrated thermomechanical actuation. The active cantilever design enables reproducible atomic-resolution imaging while eliminating the need for an external laser, making it particularly suitable for compact AFM systems, SEM integration, vacuum environments, and cryogenic applications.

The thermomechanical actuator integrated “on the probe” allows for excitation of the cantilever in its resonant frequency (AC-actuation) and a static (DC) displacement without any interference to the mechanical AFM-setup. An integration of on-probe thermomechanical actuation makes up to seven or more eigen-modes excitation and replacement of the piezoelectric z-actuator. A closed-loop operation measures the probe deflection through the strain induced in the piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge. Moreover, the piezoresistive bridge configuration of the read-out and unique design provide effective temperature and actuator crosstalk compensation.

Active cantilevers are based on multi-layer structures composed of diverse thin film layers. Different coefficients of thermal expansion between the layers result in bending of the cantilever by means of differential extension of composite layers. In the context, the displacement of the cantilever tip can be precisely controlled by the dissipated electrical power in the embedded thin-film metallic resistor.

nano analytik GmbH developed for its customers a series of small form-factor preamplifiers with high-bandwidth and low-noise performance, suitable for fast AFM applications. The preamplifier module has a small mass and can be integrated into any AFM heads in both sample-scanning and cantilever-scanning configurations.

To learn more about the underlying technology, visit our Active Cantilever Technology page.