Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Improved In Situ Spring Constant Calibration For Colloidal Probe Atomic Force Microscopy, Sean P. Mcbride, Bruce M. Law

Dr. Sean P. McBride

In colloidal probe atomic force microscopy (AFM) surface forces cannot be measured without an accurate determination of the cantilever spring constant. The effective spring constant k depends upon the cantilever geometry and therefore should be measured in situ; additionally, k may be coupled to other measurement parameters. For example, colloidal probe AFM is frequently used to measure the slip length b at solid/liquid boundaries by comparing the measured hydrodynamic force with Vinogradova slip theory (V-theory). However, in this measurement k and b are coupled, hence, b cannot be accurately determined without knowing k to high precision. In this paper, a …