AFM Probe Policy
The most common kinds of probes are the RTESP probe and the DNP-20 probe, which are recommended for tapping mode and contact mode respectively. AFM probes are fragile and consumable items; they break on a regular basis, particularly when the probe is being mounted on the AFM head. Extra care should be taken during the mounting operation. The NRF will keep a store of these two probes and provide them to the users for an extra charge on machine usage. However, it is strongly recommended that the users buy and use their own probes. That will save time and money to the AFM users. There are many different types of probes that can be mounted on the Dimension 3100 AFM. The most common probes are: for tapping mode the VEECO’s RTSP or Applied Nanostructures’ ACT50 (both probes are equivalent); for contact mode VEECO’s DNP20 or Applied Nanostructures’ SICON. These probes must be acquired from either VEECO or Applied Nanostructures only. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER KIND OF PROBE WITHOUT ASKING THE NRF STAFF. We will consider other kind of probes on a case to case basis and it will be so provided that there is a good reason to use a probe other than those mentioned above. Customized or home-made probes are not allowed in our Dimension 3100 without permission.