An Effective stiffness approximation for atomic force microscopy cantilevers.

An atomic force microscope can acquire both topographic and materials-related data, but with cantilevers of different stiffnesses. Unfortunately, changing cantilevers causes the cantilever tip\u27s position over the sample to be lost. By oscillating a single cantilever at an overtone, however, it may be possible to emulate a cantilever of higher stiffness. Using an AFM simulator, I.C. Adams, tests were performed to determine the veracity of this theory. These tests demonstrated that the method has merit, but further experimentation is necessary