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Journal ArticleDOI

Calculation of thermal noise in atomic force microscopy

Hans-Jürgen Butt, +1 more
- 01 Jan 1995 - 
- Vol. 6, Iss: 1, pp 1-7
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TLDR
In this paper, the authors calculated the thermal noise of a cantilever with a free end by considering all possible vibration modes of the cantilevers and showed that if the end is supported by a hard surface, no thermal fluctuations of the deflection are possible.
Abstract
Thermal fluctuations of the cantilever are a fundamental source of noise in atomic force microscopy. We calculated thermal noise using the equipartition theorem and considering all possible vibration modes of the cantilever. The measurable amplitude of thermal noise depends on the temperature, the spring constant K of the cantilever and on the method by which the cantilever deflection is detected. If the deflection is measured directly, e.g. with an interferometer or a scanning tunneling microscope, the thermal noise of a cantilever with a free end can be calculated from square root kT/K. If the end of the cantilever is supported by a hard surface no thermal fluctuations of the deflection are possible. If the optical lever technique is applied to measure the deflection, the thermal noise of a cantilever with a free end is square root 4kT/3K. When the cantilever is supported thermal noise decreases to square root kT/3K, but it does not vanish.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Force measurements with the atomic force microscope: Technique, interpretation and applications

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Cantilever transducers as a platform for chemical and biological sensors

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Atomic force microscope

TL;DR: The atomic force microscope as mentioned in this paper is a combination of the principles of the scanning tunneling microscope and the stylus profilometer, which was proposed as a method to measure forces as small as 10-18 N. As one application for this concept, they introduce a new type of microscope capable of investigating surfaces of insulators on an atomic scale.
Journal ArticleDOI

Calibration of atomic‐force microscope tips

TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a simple, nondestructive procedure for measuring the force constant, resonant frequency, and quality factor of an AFM cantilever spring and the effective radius of curvature of an AU tip.
Journal ArticleDOI

The theory of sound

Journal ArticleDOI

Atomic force microscope–force mapping and profiling on a sub 100‐Å scale

TL;DR: In this paper, a modified version of the atomic force microscope is introduced that enables a precise measurement of the force between a tip and a sample over a tip-sample distance range of 30-150 A.
Journal ArticleDOI

Microfabrication of cantilever styli for the atomic force microscope

TL;DR: In this article, a number of microfabrication processes for constructing cantilever styli with properties ideal for the atomic force microscopy (AFM) were presented. But none of them are suitable for high-resolution microscopy.
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