Precautions should be taken to prevent damage to the cantilever tips from electrostatic discharge.

[ OMCL-AC series ]

As can be seen in the illustration below, a tetrahedral tip is located at the exact end of the cantilever.

melt tip by discharge sharp tip

A blunt tip after field evaporation (Left) and an average sharp tip (Right)

lectric field concentrated around the tip apex would cause field evaporation. Then, the silicon tip becomes blunt as in the left image above.

So, it is recommended that precautions should be taken to prevent damage to the cantilever tips from electrostatic discharge as when handling laser diode chips.

  1. Neutralizing electrostatic condition of the working area by an Ionizer
  2. Handling on an Anti-electrostatic mat
  3. Wearing an Anti-electrostatic wrist band
  4. Avoid wearing clothes like woolen sweaters, fleece etc that give off the static electricity when handling the cantilever cases and chips.