Configure the System

This section shows how to perform the cantilever temperature and height sensor calibration.

  • Select Configuration from the top menu bar of the Main Panel.

Surface Approach

  • apz Select Piezo Approach from the Side Menu.
  • Use the Z down button to move the cantilever closer to the surface manually. Use the microscope viewer to estimate the gap and to set the Step (µm) size accordingly to avoid crashing the tip into the substrate. Stop once the cantilever appears to be close to focus on the optical microscope, see Figure 5.
close_to_focus

Figure 5 Cantilever close to focus, above sample surface.

  • perform48 Perform the approach procedure. If the surface is not found at the first try, you will be asked whether to proceed with coarse approach until the surface is detected (see Figure 6).
apz_panel

Figure 6 Piezo Approach panel showing the approach curve after the surface was detected.

More Details: See: Piezo Approach

Temperature Calibration

  • ivc Select IV Curve from the left menu bar of the Main Panel.
  • Select Cantilever Channel Writer from the drop-down menu.
  • Set Cantilever Height (nm) to the height that you will use for writing (typically in between 350 nm and 400 nm).
  • perform48 Perform the IV curve. The IV curve of the writer will be displayed.
ivc_graph

Figure 7 Typical thermal cantilever IV curves for both the writer and reader channels.

Warning

A flat line indicates a broken or incorrectly loaded cantilever. Repeat the IV curve at least twice before concluding that the cantilever is broken and has to be exchanged.

Note

The yellow dot on the curve indicates the calibration point (the knee point of the IV curve). At this point, the temperature of the tip is around 650 °C. If the yellow dot does not appear, increase Max (V) by around 1 V in the Applied Voltages box and repeat the procedure.

  • Repeat the procedure for Cantilever Channel Reader.

More Details: See IV Curve

Temperature Setting

  • tmp Select Cantilever Sensors from the left bar.
  • Set the Writer Sensor Voltage to a value that corresponds to a temperature close to 1,000 °C. If temperatures close to 1,000 °C can not be reached, repeat the Temperature Calibration using a higher stopping factor (increase it by 0.1).