IMPROVEMENTS TO ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY CANTILEVERS FOR INCREASED STABILITY

A modification of commercially manufactured atomic force microscopy ca ntilevers which reduces the bending of the V-shaped legs due to change s in temperature is described. Gold-coated silicon nitride cantilevers are a bimorph system in which the different thermal expansion coeffic ients of the materials comprising the system can produce a temperature -dependent change in curvature, Other stress-related effects might als o be responsible for the observed bending. By removing the gold film a nd redepositing gold only at the end of the V-shaped legs, a reduction in the bending of the cantilever is accomplished while the required o ptical reflectivity for the laser deflection system is retained. Imagi ng x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and changes in the detector photodiode signal related to bending of the c antilever are shown for modified and unmodified tips. (C) 1996 America n Institute of Physics.