ThermaLever™ Probes:
Please click here for a Data Sheet (PDF format).
The ThermaLever™ probes are batch fabricated thermal probes composed of doped silicon. These probes have a heater integrated into the end of the cantilever which allows them to be heated in a controlled fashion to around 400˚ C at very rapid heating rates. These characteristics distinguish them from previous commercially available thermal probes which typically either require some manual fabrication or can only be heated to low temperatures due to the resistor being fabricated from thin metal films. Another significant advance with these probes is the end radius of the tip. In previous styles of thermal probes the tip radius is significantly larger than standard AFM probes. This is not true with the ThermaLever probes which provide lateral resolution in imaging very similar to other AFM probes. Anasys Instruments has two models of ThermaLever probes available, the AN2-200 and AN2-300. Both these probe models have a tip height ranging from 3 to 6 microns and have a cantilever thickness of around 2 microns . The AN2-300 have lower spring constants and are designed for contact mode operation while the AN2-200 have high enough resonant frequencies to be used in intermittent contact mode. Shown below are SEM images of the AN probe, showing the entire cantilever (left) and a close-up of the tip (right). |
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Following is a list of the specifications for the two different models of thermal probes. |
| Probe Model Numbers | |
AN2-200 |
|
AN2-300 |
|
| Cantilever Material | |
Si |
|
Si |
| Resistor Material |
|
Doped Silicon |
|
Doped Silicon |
| Length(microns) | |
~200 |
|
~300 |
| Thickness(microns) | |
~2 |
|
~2 |
| Tip Height(microns) | |
3-6 |
|
3-6 |
| Spring Constant(N/m) | |
0.5 - 3 |
|
0.1 - 0.5 |
| Resonant Frequency(kHz) | |
55 - 80 |
|
15 - 30 |
| Tip Radius(nm) | |
<30 |
|
<30 |
| Maximum controllable temperature (deg C) | |
350 |
|
400 |
| Imaging Modes | |
|
|
|
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| Contact | |
Y |
|
Y |
| Intermittent Contact | |
Y |
|
N |
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Please contact us at sales@anasysinstruments.com for any questions on our probes.
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