W-Shaped Cantilevers for Scanning Force Microscopy

This paper deals with the tip tilt occurring in scanning force microscopy during contact. Tangential forces lead to affect the localization of the measurement and prevent the quantification of local contact stiffness. Both are crucial for an accurate mechanical characterization of materials with high spatial resolution. Specific W-shaped cantilevers, using a mechanical compensating mechanism, have been designed to keep the tip vertical and get around these problems. They have been simulated with finite-element softwares and validated experimentally on the scanning microdeformation microscope. The promising results show that the principle could be used in other types of scanning force microscopies.