On 29 March 2017, IPPT PAN participated in the 19th International Trade Fair of Analytical, Measurement and Control Technology (EuroLab17). This year's edition was held in the Trade Fair and Congress Centre, Marsa 56C, Warsaw.
Solutions and new products available at the fairs came from the following sectors of the laboratory industry: analytics, biotechnology and life sciences, metrology, medical laboratory diagnostics, nanotechnology, materials science and forensic science. Useful professional information could be obtained by experts working both at the laboratories of scientific institutions or R&D centres and in various branches of the economy, such as the industry, the food sector, cosmetics or environmental protection.
This year’s fairs featured 140 exhibitors from 14 countries.
At the exhibition stand, IPPT PAN presented among others the LFMC – Lateral force calibrator for AFM - an innovative device designed by a team: Dariusz Jarząbek, Wojciech Dera and Cezary Dziekoński.
In the field of tribology, the Lateral Force Microscopy (LFM) mode is commonly used. It employs movement of a cantilever in the direction perpendicular to its longer axis, contrary to classical modes. In this mode, the cantilever’s tip slides on a surface of a sample and torsional deflection of the cantilever is measured by a precise optical system. Usually a position sensitive diode (PSD) is applied, which can measure both, normal and torsional deflection of the cantilever. Torsional deflection is usually caused by a friction force between the tip and the sample’s surface. It should be noted that precise measurements of friction forces require an accurate value of the cantilever’s torsional spring constant and the PSD sensitivity. The combination of these two parameters allows to determine the AFM lateral force calibration constant (LFCC).
We presented a simple and direct calibration procedure and dedicated device for LFCC determination which does not require any knowledge about material or geometrical parameters of the investigated cantilever. We use a microforce sensor (MFS) for direct measurement of the friction force applied by the cantilever’s tip to a flat silicon surface. Due to the third law of dynamics, the friction force of the equal value tilts the cantilever. Therefore, torsional (lateral force) signal is compared with the signal from MFS and LFCC is calculated.
More about the EUROLAB