Characterization of the mechanical properties of qPlus sensors

• Jan Berger,
• Martin Švec,
• Martin Müller,
• Martin Ledinský,
• Antonín Fejfar,
• Pavel Jelínek and
• Zsolt Majzik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 1–9, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.1

• methods that can be used for estimating the stiffness of qPlus sensors. The first method is based on continuum theory of elasticity. The second (Cleveland’s method) uses the change in the eigenfrequency that is induced by the loading of small masses. Finally, the stiffness is obtained by analysis of the

• thermal noise spectrum. We show that all three methods give very similar results. Surprisingly, neither the gold wire nor the gluing give rise to significant changes of the stiffness in the case of our home-built sensors. Furthermore we describe a fast and cost-effective way to perform Cleveland’s method

• . Keywords: AFM; Cleveland’s method; cross talk; force; qPlus; stiffness; STM; thermal noise; tuning fork; Introduction The invention of scanning tunneling microscopy [1] and atomic force microscopy (AFM) [2] opened new horizons in characterization and modification of surfaces and nanostructures. STM is