V-shaped and triangular cantilevers are widely employed in atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging techniques due to their stability. For the design of vibration control systems of AFM cantilevers which utilize patched piezo actuators, obtaining an accurate system model is indispensable prior to acquiring the information related to natural modes. A general differential quadrature element method (...

It is shown that the energy harvesting capabilities of a piezoelectric cantilever can be enhanced through coupling to a static magnetic field. A permanent magnet is fixed to the end of a piezoelectric cantilever, causing it to experience a non-linear force as it moves with respect to a stationary magnet. The magnetically coupled cantilever responds to vibration over a much broader frequency ran...

A working model has been developed which can be used to significantly increase the accuracy of cantilever deflection measurements using optical beam techniques (used in cantilever-based sensors and atomic force microscopes), while simultaneously simplifying their use. By using elementary geometric optics and standard vector analysis it is possible, without any fitted or adjustable parameters, t...

The vibration behavior of an atomic force microscope [AFM] cantilever with a crack during the nanomachining process is studied. The cantilever is divided into two segments by the crack, and a rotational spring is used to simulate the crack. The two individual governing equations of transverse vibration for the cracked cantilever can be expressed. However, the corresponding boundary conditions a...

Interferometric displacement detection in a cantilever-based non-contact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM) operated in ultra-high vacuum is demonstrated for the Michelson and Fabry-Pérot modes of operation. Each mode is addressed by appropriately adjusting the distance between the fiber end delivering and collecting light and a highly reflective micro-cantilever, both together forming the interf...

Piezoelectric cantilevers have been in great demand in sensor and actuator applications. The tip displacement of the cantilever is the most important and sensitive parameter in the actuation mode. Hence, in this study a bimorph cantilever beam has been chosen as the element of study consisting of two active piezoelectric layers of PVDF bonded together. An attempt has been made to establish the ...

We demonstrate a new sensitive biosensor for detection of vital fungal spores of Aspergillus niger. The biosensor is based on silicon microfabricated cantilever arrays operated in dynamic mode. The change in resonance frequency of the sensor is a function of mass binding to the cantilever surface. For specific A. niger spore immobilization on the cantilever, each cantilever was individually coa...

This paper reports quantitative topographical measurements using a heated atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilever probe. The study compares opographies measured by the cantilever thermal signal to topographies measured by the laser-deflection signal of an AFM system. The experiment sed 20 and 100 nm tall Si gratings as topographical test samples. The cantilever heater temperature ranged from 1...

The atomic force microscope can provide information on the atomic-level frictional properties of surfaces, but reproducible quantitative measurements are difficult to obtain. Parameters that are either unknown or difficult to precisely measure include the normal and lateral cantilever force constants (particularly with microfabricated cantilevers), the tip height, the deflection sensor response...

Variations in the mechanical properties of nominally identical V-shaped atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers sourced from the same silicon nitride wafer have been quantified by measuring the spring constants, resonant frequencies and quality factors of 101 specimens as received from the manufacturer using the thermal spectrum method of Hutter and Bechhoefer. The addition of thin gold coati...