Mechanical design for tailoring the resonance harmonics of an atomic force microscope cantilever during tip-surface contact Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • We describe an atomic force microscope cantilever design for which the second flexural mode frequency can be tailored relative to the first mode frequency, for operation in contact with a substrate. A freely resonating paddle internal to the cantilever reduces the stiffness of the second flexural mode relative to the first while nearly maintaining the mass of the original cantilever. Finite element analysis is used to predict the performance of various cantilever designs and several cantilevers are fabricated and tested. This strategy allows the ratio of the first two resonant modes f 2/f1 to be controlled over the range 1.6-4.5. The ability to vary f2/f1 could improve a variety of dynamic contact-mode measurements. 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF MICROMECHANICS AND MICROENGINEERING

author list (cited authors)

  • Felts, J. R., & King, W. P.

citation count

  • 24

complete list of authors

  • Felts, Jonathan R||King, William P

publication date

  • January 2009