AFM Tips Guide

PointProbe® AFM Tip

AFM tips with a polygon based pyramid shape positioned close to the free end of the AFM cantilever.

• Macroscopic half-cone angle 20° to 25° viewed along the cantilever axis, 25° to 30° viewed from the side
• Half-cone angle smaller than 10° at the apex
• AFM tip height 10-15 µm
• Front and back pyramid angles of the AFM tip with respect to the vertical differ when the probe is mounted onto the AFM head

Rotated AFM Tip

Rotated AFM tips with a polygon based pyramid shape positioned close to the free end of the AFM cantilever.

• Similar AFM tip geometry to that of standard AFM tips
• Front and back pyramid angles of the AFM tip with respect to the vertical are equal when the probe is mounted onto the AFM head

Arrow™ AFM Tip

Tetrahedral pyramid AFM tips at the end of the cantilever for easy positioning in the area of interest.

• Front and back pyramid angles of the AFM tip with respect to the vertical are equal when the probe is mounted onto the AFM head
• AFM tip height 10-15 µm
• AFM tip radius of curvature below 10 nm

Advanced TEC™ AFM Tip

Tetrahedral pyramid AFM tips protruding from the end of the cantilever.

• Real tip visibility allowing the most accurate positioning
• AFM tip height 15-20 µm
• AFM tip radius of curvature below 10 nm

OPUS™ AFM Tip

Tetrahedral pyramid AFM tips with a leading pyramid edge at right angle to the cantilever axis for optimized positioning upon the test sample.

• AFM tip height ~ 14 µm
• AFM tip radius of curvature of uncoated tips < 7 nm

Pyrex-Nitride AFM Tip

AFM tips with a square AFM tip pyramid.

• Oxide sharpened AFM tip
• AFM tip height 3.5 µm
• AFM tip radius of curvature below 10 nm

Silicon Nitride AFM Tip

AFM tips with a rectangular-based pyramid.

• When mounted onto the AFM head, only the front AFM tip interacts with the sample surface
• Overall AFM tip height 12 μm
• Effective AFM tip height above 800 nm
• Double tip spacing 4.5 μm

Pyrex-Nitride AFM Tip

AFM tips with a square-based pyramid.

• Oxide sharpened AFM tip
• AFM tip pyramid height 3.5 µm
• AFM tip radius of curvature below 10 nm

3-sided Sharpened Pyramidal AFM Tip

AFM tips with a 3-sided sharpened pyramid positioned close to the free end of the AFM cantilever.

SuperSharpSilicon™ AFM Tip

AFM tips with a SuperSharpSilicon apex for high resolution AFM imaging of nanostructures and microroughness.

• Guaranteed AFM tip radius of curvature below 5 nm
• Typical AFM tip radius of curvature 2 nm
• Typical aspect ratio of the last 200 nm 4:1
• Half cone angle 200 nm from the AFM tip apex below 10°

High Aspect Ratio AFM Tip

AFM tips with a high aspect ratio portion allowing measurements of deep trenches.

• High aspect portion of the AFM tip larger than 2 µm and symmetric when viewed from side as well as along cantilever axis
• Typical aspect ratio for the last 2 µm of the AFM tip in the order of 7:1 to 12:1
• Half cone angle of the high aspect ratio portion of the AFM tip typically from 5° down to below 2.8°

AFM tips with a high aspect ration portion allowing measurements of deep trenches. The tilted high aspect ratio portion compensates the mounting angle within the AFM head. (for AFM instruments with a mounting angle of 13°)

• Tilted high aspect ratio tip compensates the mounting angle of AFM head
• Sidewall angles and sidewalls are „not“ distorted

Regular High Aspect Ratio  AFM Tip

Tilt Compensated High Aspect Ratio AFM Tip

Tilt Compensated High Aspect Ratio AFM Tip

EBD AFM Tip

AFM tips with Electron Beam Deposited (EBD) extratips.

• Extratips with various geometry on the apex of the silicon AFM tip for different applications
• Sharp EBD AFM tips for high resolution imaging and high aspect ratio EBD AFM tips for deep trench measurements

Plateau AFM Tip

AFM tips with a plateau instead of a sharp tip.

• Plateau formed by Focused Ion Beam (FIB) milling out of a symmetrically etched tip building a rod on top of a conical tip
• Plateau diameter typically equals 1.8 µm

Rounded AFM Tip

AFM tips with an intentionally increased and well-defined radius of curvature.

• AFM tip radius of curvature: 90 nm from the front, 160 nm from the side

Spherical AFM Tip

AFM tips with a sphere of well defined size at the end of the AFM tip pyramid or at the end of a tipless AFM cantilever.

• For applications that require hard contact between tip and sample this AFM tip offers a hemispherical, symmetric and extremely smooth hard tipside coating
• Different sphere radii available

Silicon AFM Tip

AFM tips made of single crystal silicon.

• All components of the AFM probe: the AFM tip, the AFM cantilever and the AFM support chip are made of monolithic single crystal silicon
• Silicon is highly doped for static charge dissipation

Silicon Nitride AFM Tip

AFM tips made of silicon nitride.

• The AFM tip and the AFM cantilever are made of silicon nitride
• The AFM cantilever is attached to a silicon or a borosilicate glass support chip

Silicon Oxide AFM Tip

AFM tips made of silicon oxide.

High Density Carbon (HDC) AFM Tip

EBD High Density Carbon (HDC) AFM tips.

Uncoated AFM Tip

AFM tips without coating.

• No coating on the tip side of the cantilever either
• General purpose AFM tips

Gold Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a gold coating.

• Gold coating covers the entire cantilever as well
• Electrically conductive
• Basis for tip functionalization
• Bio-compatible

Platinum Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a platinum or a chromium/platinum coating.

• Platinium coating covers the entire cantilever as well
• Electrically conductive
• Used for electric mode AFM measurements

Platinum/Iridium Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a platinum/iridium coating.

• Platinium/Iridium coating covers the entire cantilever as well
• Electrically conductive
• Used for electric mode AFM measurements

DLC Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a hard wear resistant Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) coating.

• DLC coating covers the tip side of the cantilever as well
• Used in applications where increased wear resistance is needed

Diamond Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a real diamond coating for unsurpassed wear resistance.

• Diamond coating covers the tip side of the cantilever as well
• Ensures an even higher durability than DLC coating

Conductive Diamond Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a doped diamond coating.

• Conductive Diamond coating covers the tip side of the cantilever as well
• Provides high wear resistance for electric mode applications

Cobalt Alloy Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a cobalt alloy magnetic coating for Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM) measurements.

• Cobalt Alloy coating covers the tip side of the cantilever as well
• Several different variations with different magnetic momentum and coercivity available

Silicon Nitride Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a thin silicon nitride coating.

• Silicon Nitride coating covers the entire cantilever as well
• Improved wear resistance
• Bio-compatible

Silicide Coated AFM Tip

AFM tips with a silicide coating.

• Silicide coating covers the entire cantilever as well
• Electrically conductive
• Bio-compatible