How to use the MLCT probes?

Reply

Ian Armstrong replied on Tue, Apr 14 2015 3:56 PM

rated by 0 users

Verified by David Durham

Hi DuckNamedFrank,

This depends a little bit on the type, cantilever holder type, and even age of your AFM - on some holders you may actually be able to put in the probe and the back facing cantilevers wont make contact with the backside of the pocket - especially if you seat it forward a little bit. Most of the time though the rear facing levers will make contact with the back of the pocket and break off. If this is the case I would remove the cantilever with tweezers before putting in the holder as otherwise the debris and broken cantilevers could end up moving around and interfering with the cantilever you are trying to use (especially in liquid). Personally if I am using one of the B-F cantilevers I use tweezers and knock off all the cantilevers I am not using. They can interfere with experiments to more or lesser extent depending on the exact experiment. Plus if you leave all the cantilevers on, remember they are still "active" - they may not be the cantilever being used for feedback but they are still deflecting or vibrating and causing fluid flow, possibly being dragged across the surface and getting contaminated etc... so they will not be pristine if you want to reuse them in a later subsequent experiment anyway...

Ian