title: Improve performance of scanning probe microscopy by balancing tuning fork prongs.
abstract: This paper presents an approach for improving the Q-factor of tuning fork probe used in scanning probe microscopes. The improvement is achieved by balancing the fork prongs with extra mass attachment. An analytical model is proposed to characterize the Q-factor of a tuning fork probe with respect to the attachment of extra mass on the tuning fork prongs, and based on the model, the Q-factors of the unbalanced and balanced tuning fork probes are derived and compared. Experimental results showed that the model fits well the experimental data and the approach can improve the Q-factor by more than a factor of three. The effectiveness of the approach is further demonstrated by applying the balanced probe on an atomic force microscope to obtain improved topographic images.
authors.affiliation: Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 71 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 638075, Singapore; School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Boon Ping
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shaw
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wei Kok
authors.forename: Yeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chai Soh