La. Wenzler et al., IMPROVEMENTS TO ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY CANTILEVERS FOR INCREASED STABILITY, Review of scientific instruments, 67(12), 1996, pp. 4191-4197
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.