
OMCL-RC800PSA
OLYMPUS pyramidal tip (below) is stably sharpened by our special fabrication process, and its small radius of the tip are achieved. OLYMPUS introduced this type of the tip in the first time in the world in 1991. You never doubt this type of the tip becomes standard for contact mode AFM measurements. Below is an SEM image of a sharpened pyramidal tip (side view). As can be seen in the picture, the pyramidal tip is sharpened toward the tip apex. Two pairs of different shapes of triangular cantilevers protrude from both sides of a glass chip. Four different shapes of rectangular cantilevers protrude from a glass chip. Thin gold/chromium film is coated on the back side of the cantilevers for reflecting light from a deflection sensor in the AFM equipment. Transparency of the lever with reflex coating for visible light is 1% or less. Either triangular or rectangular cantilevers extend from a glass chip. Each chip is connected at the bottom of the glass chip and makes a chip array (call it "cantilever strip"). The left illustration shows a part of the array of rectangular cantilever chips. Stiffness [N/m] and resonant frequency [Hz] of each cantileves are Calculated values under the vacuum condition, or no-damping condition. note:for DC (contact) mode AFM and LFM
The tips are made of silicon nitride, which is less prone to wear than single-crystal silicon. This helps to minimize image changes caused by wear of the tip.SEM image of sharpened pyramidal tip
Tip
Dimensions of levers
Cantilevers of OMCL-TR series
Lever thickness:
400nm and 800nmCantilevers of OMCL-RC series
Lever thickness:
800nmMetal coating
[Reflex coating]
Dimensions of chips (substrates)
Mechanical properties of levers and tips
Lever
Tip
thickness
(nm)length
(µm)width
(µm)spring const.
(N/m)resonant freq.
(kHz)height
(µm)radius
(nm)
Triangular cantilever with reflect coating
OMCL-TR400PSA-
400
100
200*
0.08
0.0234
112.9
15
OMCL-TR800PSA-
800
100
200*
0.57
0.1573
242.9
15
Rectangular cantilever with reflect coating
OMCL-RC800PSA-
800
100
100
200
20020
40
20
400.39
0.76
0.05
0.1069
71
18
192.9
15
The resonant frequency of each of the cantilevers shift lower in water than in vacuum or in air because of the water damping. For instance in OMCL-TR400PSA-, the resonant frequencies of the 100µm and 200µm long cantilevers shift around 7kHz and 3kHz in water respectively.Applications
We recommend OMCL-TR800PSA- as a general choice for contact mode operation. OMCL-TR400PSA- must be selected when the sample is easy to damage.
OMCL-RC800PSA- is for the LFM measurement because the twist motion of rectangular cantilever is simpler than that of triangular cantilever.
The 100µm long cantilever of the OMCL-TR400PSA- is also recommended for AC mode AFM in fluid. (See a sample image.)