AR10T-NCHR

Cantilever data:
Property Nominal Value Specified Range
Resonance Frequency [kHz] 330 204 - 497
Force Constant [N/m] 42 10 - 130
Length [µm] 125 115 - 135
Mean Width [µm] 30 22.5 - 37.5
Thickness [µm] 4 3 - 5
Order codes and shipping units:
Order Code AFM probes per pack Data sheet
AR10T-NCHR-10 10 of all probes
AR10T-NCHR-20 20 of all probes
AR10T-NCHR-50 50
AR10T-NCHR-W 370

Special handling information for NANOSENSORS™

Due to their unique geometry the tips of the are more susceptible to tip damage by electrostatic discharge (ESD) than other Silicon-SPM-Probes.

Electric fields near the probe chip may lead to field evaporation which can blunt the tip apex of the probe tip. Therefore the NANOSENSORS™ are shipped in specially designed ESD-safe chip carriers.

NANOSENSORS™ recommends to their customers to take appropriate precautions to avoid tip damage due to electrostatic discharge when handling the probes. This can for example be done by using anti-electrostatic mats, wrist bands and tweezers.

NANOSENSORS™ High Aspect Ratio Silicon AFM probes

High Aspect Ratio (> 10:1, Tilted 13°) - Non-Contact/Tapping Mode - High Resonance Frequency - Reflex Coating

NANOSENSORS™ AR10T-NCHR AFM tips are designed for non-contact mode or tapping mode AFM. This AFM probe type combines high operation stability with outstanding sensitivity and fast scanning ability.

For measurements on samples with sidewall angles approaching 90° NANOSENSORS™ produces specially tailored AFM tips. These AFM tips are FIB (Focused Ion Beam) milled to achieve a high aspect ratio portion better than 10:1 at the end of the common silicon AFM tip. This subtractive method of producing the high aspect ratio needle offers the advantage of high lateral stiffness and rigidity of the AFM tip.

On the model AR10T the last 1.5 µm of the AFM tip are tilted 13° to the center axis of the AFM cantilever. With this feature the tilt angle of the AFM cantilever caused by the mount of the AFM head (commonly 13°) will be compensated. Now, nearly vertical sidewalls can be measured offering a symmetrical scan.

The AFM probe offers unique features:

  • length of the high aspect ratio portion of the AFM tip > 1.5 µm
  • typical aspect ratio at 1.5 µm in the order of 12:1 (when viewed from side as well as along AFM cantilever axis)
  • high aspect ratio portion of the AFM tip tilted 13° to the AFM cantilever surface normal
  • half cone angle at 1.5 µm of the high aspect ratio portion typically < 2.8° 
  • guaranteed AFM tip radius of curvature < 15 nm
  • highly doped silicon to dissipate static charge
  • high mechanical Q-factor for high sensitivity

The reflective coating is an approximately 30 nm thick aluminum coating on the detector side of the AFM cantilever which enhances the reflectivity of the laser beam by a factor of about 2.5. Furthermore it prevents light from interfering within the AFM cantilever. As the coating is nearly stress-free the bending of the AFM cantilever due to stress is less than 2 degrees.

This AFM probe features alignment grooves on the back side of the holder chip. These grooves fit to the NANOSENSORS Alignment Chip.