Atomic force microscopy cantilever, system and method

An atomic force microscopy (AFM) system comprising:

• a sample platform;
• and
• a cantilever comprising:
• a main body, the main body forming a part of a surface of the cantilever, wherein a first end of the main body is coupled, either directly or indirectly, to the sample platform;
• an island, the island forming a further part of the surface of the cantilever, the island being partly separated from the main body by a separating space between facing edges of the main body and the island;
• at least one bridge connecting the island to the main body along a line around which the island is able to rotate through torsion of the at least one bridge, wherein the line extends along a direction of a longest size of the cantilever;
• a reflection area located on the island;
• and
• a probe tip located on the island at a position offset from the line around which the island is able to rotate;
• a light source positioned to direct a light to the reflection area;
• a light spot position detector positioned to detect a displacement of a light spot formed from light reflected by the reflection area;
• a vibration generator coupled to the platform for generating vibrations in the sample that travel to the probe tip through the sample;
• and
• a control circuit configured to activate the vibration generator to generate vibrations of the sample relative to the cantilever at a frequency of a contact resonance mode of the cantilever, the contact resonance mode being due to bending of the main body by an anti-node of contact resonance between the first end and the island.

A method of performing atomic force spectroscopy with an atomic force microscopy (AFM) system,

• wherein the AFM system comprises:
• a sample platform;
• a cantilever comprising:
• a main body, the main body forming a part of a surface of the cantilever, a first end of the main body being directly or indirectly coupled to the sample platform;
• an island, the island forming a further part of the surface of the cantilever, the island being partly separated from the main body by a separating space between facing edges of the main body and the island;
• at least one bridge connecting the island to the main body along a line around which the island is able to rotate through torsion of the at least one bridge, wherein the line extends along a direction of a longest size of the cantilever;
• a reflection area located on the island;
• and
• a probe tip located on the island at a position offset from the line around which the island is able to rotate;
• a light source positioned to direct a light to the reflection area;
• a light spot position detector positioned to detect a displacement of a light spot formed from light reflected by the reflection area;
• and
• a vibration generator coupled to the platform for generating vibrations in the sample that travel to the probe tip through the sample;
• and
• wherein the method comprises activating the vibration generator to generate vibrations of the sample relative to the cantilever at a frequency of a contact resonance mode of the cantilever due to bending of the main body with an anti-node of the contact resonance between the first end and the island.