NanoWorld® Ultra-Short Cantilevers (USC) for High-Speed AFM (HS-AFM) and video-rate AFM combine very small AFM cantilevers made of a quartz-like material which are designed for resonating at frequencies of up to 5 MHz and a very sharp and wear-resistant High-Density Carbon/Diamond Like Carbon (HDC/DLC) AFM tip. (Tip height typically 2.5 µm and radius of curvature typically < 10 nm).

In order to provide a suitable AFM probe for the complete range of high speed scanning applications, the Ultra-Short Cantilevers series consists of six different types of AFM probes divided in 2 application categories.

Ultra-Short Cantilevers mainly for dynamic mode AFM applications in air:

USC-F5-k30
Typical force constant: 30 N/m
Typical resonance frequency: 5000 kHz

USC-F2-k3
Typical force constant: 3 N/m
Typical resonance frequency: 2000 kHz

USC-F1.2-k7.3
Typical force constant: 7.3 N/m
Typical resonance frequency: 1200 kHz

Ultra-Short Cantilevers mainly for AFM applications in liquid:

USC-F1.5-k0.6
Typical force constant: 0.6 N/m
Typical resonance frequency: 1500 kHz

USC-F1.2-k0.15
Typical force constant: 0.15 N/m
Typical resonance frequency: 1200 kHz

USC-F0.3-k0.3
Typical force constant: 0.3 N/m
Typical resonance frequency: 300 kHz

System limitations:

Due to their small cantilever sizes and their very high resonance frequencies USC probes currently cannot be used in all commercially available SPMs and AFMs. Only AFMs with a sufficiently small laser spot and electronics that are capable of dealing with high resonance frequencies of up to 5 MHz are able to work with the USC probes. If in doubt whether these probes can be used in your Atomic Force Microscope, please check back with us or with your AFM manufacturer.

Please contact us to find out more or have a look at: https://www.nanoworld.com/ultra-short-cantilevers-afm-tips