Electron Microscopy Sciences Afm/Spm Tipcheck Calibration

Electron Microscopy Sciences The tipcheck is used for examining the shaft of the tip probe and for determining tip breakage. In afm, an independent means of assessing the influence of the probe tip on the image is desirable since a broken or misshapen probe tip results in inaccurate rendering of samples. If the tip damage goes undetected, the true topographical nature of your samples may inadvertently go unnoticed. A simple, convenient means to prescreen all of ones afm tips is tipcheck. Tipcheck exploits reverse imaging to provide a fast and simple way to assess new and used tips without the need for sem inspection and permits qualitative comparisons between tips. The microstructure of the tipcheck film is ideal for the detection of tip morphology in the vicinity of the tip apex. The afm images shown here were obtained by imaging a tipcheck surface with (left) a broken tip and (right) a reasonably good tip. - EMS